


Not without a voice

by Ailuroos



Category: The Dragon Prince (Cartoon)
Genre: F/F, Future Fic, I also made up some courting traditions?, I don't really know how to name them tho, It's all cannon up to s3 finale, More elves more dragons!, it was supposed to be an oneshot dammit, kind of pre-relationship kind of established relationship, lots and lots of minor oc characters because they need people to interact with, meek world building
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-18
Updated: 2020-08-11
Packaged: 2021-02-26 03:34:05
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 17
Words: 48,185
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21843001
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ailuroos/pseuds/Ailuroos
Summary: Amaya is quiet, very quiet. Even her laughs are soundless. The most noise she makes are grunts when exercising and gasps when caught by surprise. If not for her heavy armor she would probably be as sneaky as a Moonshadow elf. So it's not surprising that someone would be startled when hearing her voice for the first time, especially when it was a yell on a previously very silent room.
Relationships: Amaya & Kazi, Amaya/Janai (The Dragon Prince)
Comments: 162
Kudos: 670





	1. Not the beginning

**Author's Note:**

> So. Two things. 
> 
> This is my first time writing a Deaf character. Amaya's feelings about speech were inspired by a recent comic I read. I'm still trying to find it again, as soon as I do I'll link it here. I know nothing of ASL other than very few things I remember from the rare piece of media that portray not only a Deaf character, but also the use of sign language. Also my country's sign language is called Libras and is different from ASL. The alphabet is the same tho if i'm not mistaken.
> 
> This is also my first time actually writing an NB character. I've created some, but never got around to writing those stories so this is my first real experience. Please do correct me if I mis-gendered them somewhere. Sadly, I caught myself doing so a few times, sometimes mixing it up with other characters Kazi was interacting with, and sometimes just truly getting it wrong. So if I missed fixing it somewhere I appreciate the correction.
> 
> I ended up getting too engrossed with it and what was supposed to be an oneshot is now a multi chapter work. *insert face-palm here* I hope to keep it relatively short tho. I also hope I didn't just jinx myself.

Janai was surprised when she heard Amaya for the first time. The human was usually so quiet. The largest noise coming from her being the usual rattling of a heavy armor, or the whistles she’d give to call her soldiers to attention. Sure she’d grunt and sigh with physical exertion or gasp when something surprised her. But for a long while that was the extension of it, even her laughter being usually soundless. The shaking of her shoulders, the squeezing of her eyes, sometimes with tears full of mirth springing from their corners. She laughed with her whole being, there was no need for sound.

So, yes, she was surprised when, after two years of fruitful friendship with touches of something more, she heard her for the first time.

Amaya had, for the whole of last week, been trying to solve a little Sunfire Elf puzzle. Surprisingly the human loved them. Gren and even Callum sometimes would often gift her with twisted pieces of metal or little wooden contraptions that she was supposed to separate, or piece together, or organize in a certain way. 

When Kazi brought it up to her one day she was soon gifting her precious human a puzzle box from her own people. The little thing would shine or heat up depending on what you did with it. And more than once the fearless general had dropped the thing with a surprised gasp when it suddenly would get too hot for her to touch with her bare hands. 

" _I_ _t happens when you stray too far from the right answer._ ” Janai had signed when she noticed the surprised and confused look on the human face. “ _When it gets just a little warm or it shines it might mean you’re doing it right but if it gets too hot too fast it means you’re straying from the right path. It doesn’t stay hot for long._ ” she further explained and smiled at the hesitant way Amaya reached again for the box.

After the fourth day Janai assumed that the woman would have forfeited it with how frustrated she was getting. She would often catch the woman growling at it and soon after, see her sparring with humans and elves alike putting each and every opponent to the ground.

With the peace between humans and the magical creatures of Xadia achieved it was agreed that a peacekeeping order composed of both humans and elves, and even dragons, should be formed. After long discussion and the approval of both the Sunfire Queen and the Dragon Queen, Amaya had been chosen to lead the Unity. They had headquarters both in Lux Aurea and Katolis and posts all over the place helping people to integrate and live together.

But Amaya was stubborn and dedicated, even more than Janai had previously noticed. Even with things that weren’t crucial, like silly puzzles.

It was the seventh day since she gave it to her and they were in her particular office. The sun had already set and dinner had been eaten, Janai was just finishing some documents and letters and Amaya was silently keeping her company playing with the little box like she had been on every free time she had. Janai would sneak quick glances at her companion from time to time, almost to make sure she was still there, and would lose many seconds just admiring the serious and determined face of the other woman. Janai would then shake herself out of her distraction and concentrate on her work again.

“HA, YES!” the sudden yell made Janai embarrassingly jump on her desk chair.

She turned quickly with wide eyes to look at very mirthful human. Amaya had the largest smile on her face. It was open mouthed and toothy. It was like she was shining, Janai’s very own piece of the sun. The woman proudly pointed at the puzzle box in her hand. It was slightly opened, showing that it had indeed been solved.

A lazy congratulatory smile appeared in Janai’s face. She was still speechless. Amaya had spoken. She had never heard the woman before. Not like that. She had a surprisingly sweet voice, even in her yell, unused yes, but beautiful to the elf’s years.

“ _What?_ ” Amaya signed noticing the queen’s state, her face a mask of worry.

“You… spoke.” Janai answer, almost forgetting to sign what she said.

Amaya’s face shows surprise and comprehension and gives a sideways little smile. “ _I'm deaf, not mute._ ” She signs “ _But I don’t like to speak much._ ”

“ _Why?_ ” Janai asks getting up and going to sit next to her companion, delicately caressing the woman’s cheek before sitting down.

Amaya sighs placing the slightly ajar puzzle box on her lap before turning to the elf so they could have this conversation. “ _I have always been deaf._ ” She starts with the same little smile she had before. “ _I never heard sounds or how words are said. I’d make sounds, but never words. I sounded like a baby babbling without notion of how loud or how quiet I was being. Or so people told me. So I learned to be quiet._ ” She shrugs a little and when she notices that Janai was about to protest she signs for her to wait. “ _My parents thought it would be good for me to learn how to speak. But it was hard and frustrating and I would never sound right, anyway. In the end I never really learned it. I know few words and most of them it was Sarai who taught me. Still I don’t sound like most people._ ”

“ _I understand._ ” Janai signs quietly with a sweet smile on her full lips. “ _What kind of words do you know if you don’t mind me asking?_ ” To the elf it was more about hearing Amaya’s voice than being curious about the words the other woman could say.

“Fuck.” The woman say, quieter than before, but out of nowhere all the same and startling the elf queen again, who just blushes and laughs at the swear word. 

“ _Of course it would be swear words._ ” she rolled her eyes fondly. 

“ _Mostly._ ” Came the toothy grin and a wink. Janai often asked herself how could she feel so affected by the other woman. “ _But other things like water and cold. Always one word. But as we grew older things got better and it became less necessary. As we raised in ranks and with my sister as a commanding officer and then queen I would often have an interpreter and many of the soldiers started to learn the language too. I don’t like speaking because I know I sound weird. And I can't express myself well in that way._ ”

Janai understood then that it wasn’t really about what others thought of her. Sure it bugged her that she couldn’t really grasp the spoken language, but it was the fact that she was limited in what she could say and thus giving opening for misunderstanding that really bothered her.

“ _Don’t take it as me asking for you to do it more…_ ” Janai started looking deeply into the human’s eyes, receiving a nod of understanding. “ _But you have a lovely voice. Different from how I would have imagined it._ ”

“ _Really?_ ” Amaya let out an amused snort.

“ _Ye_ _s… More girly than I thought._ ” The queen jokes, getting a light shove as an answer. “ _Anyway, you should claim your prize!_ _It’s a tradition with this type of puzzle. You will put a present in it when you finally solve it and give it to another person to solve it. You close it and the puzzle resets._ ” She pointed at the puzzle box resting on the other woman’s lap. 

Successfully distracted Amaya took it in her hands again finally opening it. It was a 4 by 4 inch space inlaid with a burgundy velvety cloth with golden details. Inside it a bracelet was resting. It was a gold chain with a red ribbon, the same color of Janai’s usual robes, braided into it and with small round bright yellow stones every few links.

“These are little primal stones.” Janai explained after getting Amaya’s attention. “Not enough energy for most spells, but if you do these…” and then with one of her hands touching the bracelet, with the other she drew two runes in the air without calling to their powers. “ _Usually you speak the word, but if you just concentrate on it and it’s meaning you should be able to invoke it._ ” She then finger spells bot words and waits for Amaya to copy her until she gets it right. “ _The first means warmth and will warm you even on the coldest day and the second means light and will light your way on the darkest night._ ”

To Amaya’s surprise, the queen is blushing profusely while giving her explanation. And she blushes even more when the general asks for her to put the bracelet on her wrist. 

Janai does as asked but her hands trembled slightly and the blush never went away. She was giving furtive glances at her companion’s face and biting her lips drawing Amaya’s gaze to it. Her touches linger even after having fastened the clasp.

Amaya had a feeling that the bracelet had more meaning that she was letting on, but that was something she could discover another time. Right now she needed just to kiss Janai. 


	2. Not a fool’s plight

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had hoped to post this earlier, but wasn't home... at least I got to write a bit more on future chapters.

Amaya get to ask Kazi a few days later. The both of them had formed an easy friendship with each other. The elf somewhat reminding her of Gren, with their loyal and sweet disposition. When both interpreters had met each other she felt like she had finally acquired the puppies she had begged her parents for, once upon a time. And when she said as much to Janai, the Sunfire Queen had laughed so loudly that she had to excuse herself for a moment. 

She showed the linguistic expert the bracelet she was wearing. She hasn't removed it not even once since she got it. She quickly found a way to put her gloves and gauntlets in a way that wouldn’t make it bite into her skin so even when in armor she wouldn’t have to take it away. The surprise on the elf’s face was evident. They gently lift the woman’s wrist, after a nod of consent, to their eye level and inspects the beautiful piece of jewelry with care.

“The bracelet, or the act of giving a bracelet on it’s own hold no further meaning other than it being a nice present.” They start after letting go of the general’s hand. “ _But it’s not only the colors that can be easily associated to Her Radiance, it also has primal sunstones adorning it._ ” They paused a little then, probably going over on their head on how to explain themselves without leaving room for misunderstandings. “ _Outside of family, to gift anything with a prime stone in it is often seen as a sign of courting. Or, at least, a desire to do so._ ” At Amaya’s wide surprised eyes they quickly continue on their explanation. “ _It is not a proposal of betrothal. Just a way to show desire for a more intimate relationship, or if already in one it’s a sign of commitment._ ”

Amaya looks thoughtful for a while, eyes fixed on the incredible piece on her wrist, however her mind was on a few days ago. On how pretty Janai had blushed, and how warm her lips had been. They never had named what they had with each other. Often joking about old monikers, such as prisoner and even pet, once in a while. That was mostly Amaya trying to get a raise from the often more serious woman. 

They mostly kissed, but had gone beyond it on rare occasions. Normally when they had spent a long time apart, usually due to Amaya’s duty and the need to work from both Lux Aurea’s headquarters but also the Katolis’ one. They had plenty of passion for one another and on their reunions after being away from each other for months at times it would often surface and easily overflow leaving them on each other’s embraces late well into the night.

“ _How one would respond positively?_ ” Amaya finally asks with a serious and determined face. Janai had given the first step, she would gladly close the gap.

“Oh!” Kazi had exclaimed out loud, a small blush on their cheeks. “ _It can be a verbal confirmation. Or… you could use a tradition of your own._ ”

“ _No. I don’t want her to have any sort of doubt._ ” the human insisted.

“ _Then, you could return the favor. Something adorned with primal stone._ ” They answered. “ _The sunstone represents Her Radiance… so maybe a source you identify with?_ ”

“ _It’s a good idea. When I think of a primal source I feel more connected to, would you help me acquire it?_ ” She asks the other elf.

They look excited and quickly agree to be of help when she had everything figured out. 

She spends four days and five nights mulling over it, until finally she had a dream of her sister. Sarai smiled at her and in her dreamworld she felt almost like she was able to hear the voice of the other woman. But it wasn’t it… it was the love. She felt it so profoundly that it resonated inside her being.

“ _You’re my pillar Amaya, the stone that paves my way._ ” The movements of Sarai’s hands where fluid and looked almost like a dance. “ _You ground me when my dreams make me fly too far away…_ ”

She woke up with tears running down her face, with a decision made and the profound desire to see Janai, the captor of her heart.

Amaya takes her breakfast with the sunfire queen, glad to have gotten to her before she started on her daily duties. She parts from the elf explaining she had something to do and might have to leave the city and was unsure of how long her mission would take. She asked if she could take Kazi with her for easier communication. 

Janai clearly wishes to question her, but holds herself choosing to trust the other woman, like she had many times before. Even when they were still enemies on the breach and her life was solely on the hands of that fierce warrior. She hugged Amaya close to herself, allowing the show of affection before she had to face her responsibilities as a queen. She had become much more expressive since meeting the human. Her mask crumbled before the other woman, and if the general could be a respected and feared character even when wearing her heart on the sleeve, so could she. 

The hug lasted long seconds and they separated with a sight. Janai rested her brow against Amaya breathing in her sent. Since gifting the other woman the bracelet and getting such a passionate kiss as an answer she had felt more connected with her, even if Amaya didn’t fully know the meaning of her gesture. She gives the woman a brief kiss and finally pulls away from her.

“ _Of course you can. If you need to travel far, you can take a Inferno-Tooth Tiger if none of your Unity’s dragons are available or if it’s a more personal affair._ ” The queen offers.

“ _I’m sure Pyrrah wouldn’t mind it, but she is to leave for Katolis tomorrow. If needed I’ll take one of the Inferno-Tooth._ ” Amaya signed. “ _Thank you, My Radiance!_ ” She finished with a wink and another short, but sweet kiss.

Amaya had noticed that on the last week or so, since she solved the puzzle box, that still sat open on her bedside table, Janai had been way more affectionate. They've been acting more like a couple than ever. Before they would often spend days without kissing or holding each other in some way. These last few days, there wasn’t a meeting they hadn’t parted or greeted each other without at least a kiss or a hug. Even in front of others they would touch or hold one another in some way. The action always initiated by Janai so she knew she wasn’t overstepping. 

Kazi explanation had surely shed a light on the situation and Amaya was anxious to show Janai that she was on the same page. That they both wanted the same thing. She wanted to give Janai a proper answer. 

After getting the blessing from the Queen, Amaya marched into her headquarters. She sent for Kazi and as soon as the often shy elf entered her office she started to get her plan into motion. 

“ _I have drawn how I want the piece to look. Katolis colors are also gold and red, different from the one she gave me, but will complement her usual attire well enough. As for the prime stone…_ ” Amaya tapped her chin pondering for a second before continuing. “ _Do they come in shapes other than round?_ ”

“ _Yes. It’s less common but possible. Some prime stones are made for more practical purposes and so their shape meets their needs._ ” Kazi dutifully answered. “ _Have you thought of a Primal source?_ ”

“ _I want a prime earth stone._ ” The general nodded to herself, satisfied with her choice. “ _Can we get one here or would we need to travel?_ ”

“ _Usually you’d be able to. But even after this one and a half peaceful year we’re still focusing more on rebuilding than on commerce. So any primal stone of other origins are being brought for that effort. The prediction is that by the next summer solstice we will be finished and the usual trade routes reopened._ ”

“ _That’s too long away._ ” Amaya huffed with a frown. “ _I got permission from Janai to take a small leave, she also let me take you with me. We can go where we need to._ ” 

“Oh!” the interpreter exclaimed out loud before starting to fidget. “ _The Earthblood elves are a little far away deep into Xadia’s territory. It would take weeks of travel._ ”

“ _Janai gave us all the time we may need and also offered a mount. We could ask Pyrrah, but she is to leave for Katolis tomorrow. I do not wish to delay her._ ” 

“ _Have you told Her Radiance the nature of our mission?_ ” Kazi curiously inquired.

“ _No. That would have spoiled the surprise!_ ” The general scoffed with a roll of her eyes. “ _We’re to leave as soon as you get your things ready. While you do so I’ll relay my orders to my officers._ ” 

The trust the elf Queen had on the human run really deep, Kazi noticed. It wasn’t new, but surprising all the same, how deep it went. Without a proper explanation she trusted the other woman with resources and time for her to do as she wished. The trust wasn’t misplaced, Kazi was aware, but just two years ago the pair had been enemies read to kill one another.

But the human had saved her enemy didn’t her? Even without need, after she had already sacrificed herself to close the way between Xadia and the human kingdoms, and the likelihood of her survival were close to none. She pulled the Golden Knight from certain death, she surrendered herself to her enemy and even with all her stubbornness and defiance, she passed the judgment of the Light. The previous Queen who never cared to hide her contempt for humans had spared her life at the request of her sister. She had also joined arms with previous enemies to fight against what once had been her allies.

The Queen’s trust wasn’t misplaced in anyway, but was telling all the same.

When Kazi got back to the general’s office Amaya was finishing her talk with Gren and a Moonshadow Elf that held a high position on the peacekeeping force. Cadrin if they weren’t mistaken. The force was still trying to get Tidebound, Earthblood and Startouched elves to join, but the first two were reluctant and the last one were really hard to find. Maybe this little mission of Amaya would warm the heart of at least one of these groups.


	3. Not a common face

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was supposed to have been posted way sooner given that it was ready since I posted the first one... but man this end of the year got busy!
> 
> It's the longest one yet! I'm currently in the middle of writing the fifth one and this one still the longest one yet. This one and the next are mostly Kazi's perspective given that Amaya will mostly be speaking through them. 
> 
> This is also the chapter were my lack of ability at naming things and people gets reeeealy obvious, so...

When they get to the stables they find out that it wasn’t just any Inferno-Tooth that they would get, but Janai’s own mount. When questioned the stable hand insisted that the order had come from the Queen’s own mouth. Amaya quickly approached the animal while Kazi still discussed with the other elf. Their discussion suddenly interrupted by a loud purr given by the ferocious beast that looked nothing more than an overgrown cat at the mercy of the human’s caresses. 

“That’s… unexpected.” The stable hand mumbled surprised.

“I have learned to not build expectations when it comes to General Amaya. She does always find a way to subvert them.” Kazi told the other elf.

Not wanting to delay their mission any longer and already anxious to be back Amaya requested to be taught how to put and take off the harness and saddle from the prideful beast. The Inferno-Tooth was pliant and helpful, keeping his wings out of the way and keeping quiet. The stable hand couldn’t hide her surprise, looking at the human with something akin to awe. 

“Thank you, I’ll be sure to tell Janai of your help when I get back.” Kazi translated for the General making the stable hand gasp and blush at the casual use of the Queen’s name.

One would have assumed insubordination, but given that the beast lent to the human was the Queen’s personal one, and the amount of time they were known to spend together the conclusion one would get to, held a very different meaning. 

Briefly, Kazi worried about what kind of rumors they would get back to, but their worries were quickly interrupted by the sudden movement of being grabbed by the back of their tunic and hauled, with an ease that shouldn’t be possible, to the top of the beast. 

They leave soon after. They’re luck the animal is pretty instinctive given that neither of them had any real practice riding them. Amaya had only ever rode one with Janai. Even after establishing the Unity, whenever she went flying anywhere with them it would be on Pyrrah’s back. An offer made by the Dragon herself. Or she would use her own horse, a mare as stubborn as her, on ground missions.

It takes them two days to find the first elf settlement. Its residents are a mix of moonshadow, skywing and a few earthblood elves and it sat on a clearing in the middle of a very lush forest. They land there when it’s getting close to sundown. Finding a place to spend the night isn’t hard, but finding a place to house their mount is way more complicated. They end up having to rent three spaces on the local stable to keep the Inferno-Tooth apart from the other animals.

Amaya introduces the animal to the teenage son of the owner of the stables, both of them moonshadow elves, and for a second she has to wonder if the boy is more scared of her than of the beast. After the introduction is done the interaction between boy and beast is made easier, although it isn't near as smooth as the human’s relationship with it.

“His name is Dollan.” Kazi informs both the owner of the stable and his son. “He belongs to Her Radiance, Queen Janai of Lux Aurea, please treat him well. We’re most likely leaving tomorrow.” They’re also signing what they’re saying so Amaya could be aware.

“If you don’t mind me asking…” the older elf starts to ask, giving furtive glances to the woman and to the movement of Kazi’s hands. “What are a palace scholar and a human… soldier? doing together so far into the continent?” he scratched his head under his right horn.

“She is the General of the new peacekeeping order composed of both Xadians and humans with the objective of integrating and guiding all realms into an era of peace. More than just soldiers they’re also diplomats and negotiators. The General not only had the approval of her Radiance to take her post as the leader of this new order but also the support of the Dragon Queen herself. It was also her nephews that saved and brought back to us the Dragon Prince.” Kazi ratted on with pride. 

“So they really did that?” The man is surprised, but curious.

“Yes. However, we’re here due to more personal matters. We’re looking for prime earth stones for the crafting of jewelry.” The interpreter explains.

The stable owner's eyes widened at that. It was common practice between all types of elves to gift jewelry with prime stones as a symbol of commitment. He looked between the both of them with his eyes lingering on the human. It’s with surprise that he notices on her wrist the beautifully crafted bracelet.

She had chosen to go into this mission, with a lighter armor than her usual. Her bracers were made of hardened leather as were her shin guards and chest guard, although it had a thinner metal plate over it to increase it’s protection. Her pauldrons were of the same metal as the chest plate and carried a similar design. The tunics she wore under the leather armor carried the colors of the order she commands, a darker and a lighter green and white. And her faithful shield, as always, was on her back. She wore no gloves under her bracers and thus the bracelet was visible. 

Amaya’s catches his lingering gaze and crosses her arms with an arched eyebrow. When he notices that he had been caught her hurries to apologize, but she waves her hand dismissing the necessity of it. She quickly follows signing him a question.

“Do you know if we can find such stones here? Or at least information on where we could be able to acquire them.” Kazi dutifully translated.

The man looks between the two of them, a shadow of understanding passing through his face. “The general goods store may have some, but if they don't, the family who runs it are Earthblood elves. They will most likely be able to help you. However they’re probably already closed at this time. You should try tomorrow.” He diriges himself to Amaya, noticing Kazi’s hand movements in the corner of his eye.

They thank and wish the man a good night leaving in the direction of the tavern where they have rented a room.

“ _I don’t think he ever dealt with a deaf person before…_ ” Amaya smirks shoving Kazi with her elbow. The lithe elf almost loses their balance and rubs their ribs with a grimace. _Sorry, I forget how frail you are._ ” She looks apologetic, but the smirk still shows on her lips. 

“ _Not everyone can be a hardened warrior like you and Her Radiance._ ” They sigh.

As an answer the human just shakes with a laugh, circling their shoulder and roughly pulling them against her in a half hug. With all the time the two of them had spent together they had learned to understand and easily accept Amaya’s form of affection.

In the tavern they share a warm and tasty dinner accompanied by the tavern's own home brewed ale. By the second mug Kazi is clearly showing signs of inebriation, prompting a mocking glance from the way more sober human, even though she had drank twice as much as them. They were expecting more mockery when instead Amaya decides to call it a night, giving them a cup of water and ordering for a jar to be filled and taken to the elf’s room.

The next morning Kazi wakes up with just a hint of a headache. They drink more of the water that was left for them and the pain subsides even more. They sight in appreciation of Amaya’s forethought. Leaving their room they jiggle the door handle of the general’s room, knowing that if she was up already she would notice it.

Not obtaining an answer they descends to the tarven’s main floor. They notice the person they’re looking for was already sitting in one of the tables. A mug of warm liquid resting in front of her, however, her eyes were fixed on her bracelet, an adoring and serene smile tugging at her lips. Kazi had noticed that since getting it whenever the human wasn’t wearing gloves and or usual armor, she would often play with the adornment and would periodically look at her wrist and smile with affection. 

Kazi liked to think that Her Radiance had chosen well who would be her mate. Not that their opinion had any weight in this matter. But they breathed easier knowing that their Queen’s love was equally reciprocated.

Soon after finishing breakfast they left the tavern to find the general store. It doesn’t take long but their walk there in accompanied by many curious and or suspicious eyes. Amaya seems to shrug it off like a champ while Kazi fidgeted under the pressure of it. The general’s reassuring hand on their shoulder greatly helping to calm them down.

It isn’t hard to find the shop they were after. It’s as large barn-like establishment with a well crafted plaque over the door reading _Morah’s Goods Shop_ on it. They enter and a bell over the door announces their arrival. The store is relatively empty at that time. With just two other elves perusing the shelves.

There are plenty of gardening equipment and other day to day tools, and the entire left wall was dedicated to silos of grains. There were also some fruits, bottles of different types of beverages, some dried snacks and nuts on a shelf facing the grains. Empty barrels and other kinds of vases and utensils graced one of the shelves in the middle. Amaya could also locate some books, children toys and a hanger with a number of generic clothing. She was sure the shop had plenty more to offer, but Kazi quickly guided them to the counter on the back of the shop.

It was the first earthbound elf Amaya was seeing from up close. They really did have antler looking horns, skin dark and just a touch lighter than a sunfire elf’s, and rather than the red, orange and blond hair usual to the sunfire elves, they seemed to be mostly brunettes. Their markings were green and alluded to vines. 

The elf manning the counter was a young woman, barely reaching her adulthood. Probably one of the owner’s kids. Her previously disinterested and sleepy eyes widen when she notices them approaching. She looks at them with surprise and lingers on Amaya with a wary expression. What a Sunfire official could be doing with a human that was clearly a warrior so far into the continent? 

“Good morning.” Kazi greeted catching the girl’s attention once more. “Your store was suggested to us by the stable owner. We’re looking for prime earth stone for the purpose of jewelry crafting.”

“Oh!” The girl exclaimed, looking between the two of them. “Ah, yes… we do have prime stone jewels.” She bends down grabbing a velvet case from under the counter.

The case displayed a number of different ornaments. From necklaces and earrings to horns adornments. The prime sources were also varied. But it wasn’t exactly what they were looking for.

“Would you have the prime stones as raw material?” Kazi translates as Amaya signs her question.

“Hum… Maybe so… I’d have to ask my father if you don’t mind.” She scratches her head in embarrassment, still stealing glances at Amaya.

The human just nods with a smile, gesturing with her hands that she was welcome to go ask him. She suddenly flushed at the smile, cheeks flaming an adorable red. She rang a bell and a muffled voice called from the back of the story. Soon another elf, just a couple of years older than the one attending them appears from a discreet door. Her hair was shorter and much more wild than the other girl’s, but they were obviously sisters.

“I need to get father, please watch the store.” When the older one nodded in agreement, the still blushing girl left through the door her sister had just came from.

The older girl also looked less shy. She took her sister’s place on the counter giving a once over on the shop until her gaze reached them. Her eyes widen in surprise when she locks in on Amaya and her face shows pure wonder. 

“Oh, you’re a human! Is that integration talk people have been telling around true then?” She claps her hands excitedly. “Are you one of the humans moving here? I heard the Sunfire Queen was supporting it. Is that why you’re accompanied by an officer of the Sunfire court?”

Amaya looked with wide eyes and feeling a little overwhelmed at Kazi, having missed at least half of what the girl had said. Even them had felt a little lost while trying to keep up with the girl’s fast pace so they could translate.

But before either of them could even attempt an answer, the back door where the girl had come from was thrown open with a loud bang, startling and getting the attention of the two other elves present in the shop.

“By the Primals! Daaad! Layala and Rei weren’t lying!” A young earthblood elf, still in his teenage years yelled to the back room. “There really is a human! Is it true the Inferno-Tooth you flew in belongs to the Sunfire Queen?”

“Kano, don’t yell and don’t be rude like that.” A gruff voice reaches then before the older earthblood elf, probably the father of the three kids they met and the owner of the shop, finally appeared through the door, soon followed by the girl that had assisted them. “I’m sorry for my children's behavior.” He gave a respectful nod in Amaya’s direction.

“Don’t worry I didn't hear a thing.” Kazi translated while Amaya signed with a mischievous smile and a playful wink. The girl, Layala they supposed, blushed once again at the gesture.

The man looked unsure if he should laugh or just feel embarrassed

“The general is quite used to grabbing people’s attention wherever she goes.” Kazi reassured playfully, before turning to the blushing girl. “I know she might look like quite the catch, but she is actually pretty silly…” they purposely left the last part untranslated.

“ _Are you badmouthing me, Kazi?_ ” Amaya frowned at her friend.

“ _Never._ ” The elf giggled at the woman’s doubtful look. “Now, please, your daughter said you might be able to help us.” They went back to speaking and signing at the same time, trying to hurry along their search.

The man nodded excusing himself and going back to the back-room. He didn’t take long and was soon back with a similar case to the one his daughter had showed them. When he opened it, however, the contents were vastly different. Instead of jewelry it had a number of small round stones. All of them roughly of the same size. There were some color variation with must mean they were from different primal sources.

“The earth prime stones manifest in either green, being then more connected with the flora and fauna, or in this sepia color, meaning it’s more connected to the land and minerals.” He explained pointing the corresponding item as he mentioned them.

“Do you also make them in other shapes?” Amaya spoke through Kazi.

“It can be made yes. But I’m not a mage so I’m not the one making them. I order them, I could place an order for you but it would take a while both sending the message and getting their answer.” He scratched his chin in consideration. “I could refer you to my supplier, if you’re in a hurry. We’re a small village here, but I pride myself in the quality of my goods, so I assure you they are a very talented mage.”

“That would be appreciated, we indeed are in a bit of a hurry.” Kazi smiled gratefully. They were going to keep talking when Amaya tapped their shoulder, when she had their attention she started to sign, and the interpreter was quick to follow. “We will be buying four sepia prime earth stones from you. I’m thankful for your help and don’t wish for you to miss your sale. The ones I need in a different shape I’ll get from your purveyor.”

“Oh, thank you for your kindness, ma’am.” he bowed his head again, reaching for a pouch to place the requested items.

Amaya continued to tap Kazi’s shoulder before pointing to the food aisle before signing again. “We would also like some of your dried fruits and nuts for travel, please.” 

“Of course, Onna, please help them.” The father sent his eldest daughter to get the requested items. 

The other two kids just kept staring at them and followed Amaya with their eyes when she went to follow Onna, so she could show the ones she wanted. When they come back the human is carrying a large amount of food. Enough to last them more than a week. 

The man who had then introduced himself as Rogan, apparently Morah was his wife, finished packing their purchase and drawing them a map to where they would be able to find his supplier. By flight it was four days away from where they were now. The mage resided on a small village at the edge of a great desert, where you could buy your passage to others far away places on the back of Amblers.

Kazi was tremendously grateful they wouldn’t need to cross any desert. Four more days of travel and however many days needed for Amaya’s order to be completed and they would be able to go back home.

After paying and having an early lunch at the tavern, they grabbed their things closed and paid their tabs and left for the stables. Dollan although having remained well behaved was restless. He seemed to slightly relax at the sight of Amaya, who rushed to him and hugged his furry neck. He gave her a careful nudge and licked the side of her face from chin to the top of her head, making it stick up in all directions.

Both the owner of the stable and his son seemed to only be able to watch with their chins hanging loose. Inferno-Tooth Tigers were known to be very picky and temperamental, only the pure-heart were accepted by them, and there stood a human, a creature they had often referred to as monsters, treating such ferocious beast like it was a little kitty. Maybe there was some worth behind this integration deal. If a human could charm a Inferno-Tooth with such ease, they couldn’t all be so bad. 

They left soon after. Wanting to cover as much ground as possible. Outside the stables Rogan’s all three kids were standing wanting to wish them farewell. The youngest had waved enthusiastically saying he hoped they would stop there again on their way back. Amaya smiled at them, happy to have met people who was more excited than scared of meeting her. They finally took to the skies, before their amazed eyes, and with a final swoop they headed to their destination.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Is it too absurd having everyone falling in some degree of love with Amaya?
> 
> Should I even care if it is? =P


	4. Not that complicated

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did you ever plan to do something and never actually be able to do said thing? That was my least 2 weeks basically. I was wanting to finish chapter 5 before posting this one, but maybe it will give me a boost. I was also wanting to draw something for the fic, turns out my computer usb entry is a little... well its not exactly working and I have no idea why. So or I go to paper or try to fix it somehow.
> 
> I always get distracted or busy, tho.
> 
> This is also getting waaay longer than I expected, given what really gave me the inspiration to write it. 
> 
> Aaaaaanyway here is the next chapter. We're close to go back home.

By the time they reached the village where the prime stone craftsman resided, Amaya had already finished half of the food she had bought at Morah’s Goods Shop. Kazi didn’t know where all that food went to. The general ate as if she was half starved most of the time, especially if it was some sort of sweet or treat.

The place was heavily populated by Earthblood elves, but a few of others could also be seen. No Tidebound elves, however. They seemed to prefer places close to bodies of water, such as rivers, lakes and the ocean, so the edge of a large desert probably didn’t look too inviting to them. 

They land near what they assumed was a stable and were happy to discover that they had been correct in their assumption. This stable was also much more prepared to handle Dollan. The owner of the establishment greeted them himself and had a calming aura around him, apparently despite being slightly aged he’d be the one dealing with their mount, and although the beast didn’t act as friendly as he did with Amaya, he remained very calm.

“I’ve never seen a Inferno-tooth act as playfully as this one does with it’s rider.” The elf comments as they’re about to go.

“He just has been loaned to us, but he acts the same way with his master.” Kazi had translated as they leave.

They’re a little ways away from the stable when Kazi asks if Amaya had been serious about Her Radiance being so playful with her mount since they never had witnessed it.

“ _She likes to act all serious in front of people…_ ” The general signed to them. “ _You are all so serious sometimes._ ”

Kazi couldn’t imagine their Queen being anything other than serious, calm in court and fierce in battle. The only time they had seen her slightly lose to her emotions had been on the few days before the battle at the Storm Spire, when the general was still their prisoner. But they guessed if someone would know how the Queen was in private it would be Amaya. The bracelet adorning the human’s wrist more than proof of it.

Much like on the small forest village, people’s gaze followed them everywhere. When they would stop to get information they would often get snide remarks. After the third or fourth one Kazi had started to get really frustrated. Not because of any hindrance, but because of the things they were saying about Amaya. These people didn’t even know her and were making numerous assumptions. But they were stopped by her before they could berate anyone.

“ _Once, I too was full of assumptions._ ” Amaya told them. “ _It’s too many years of animosity, we’re friends now because we chose to know each other. You can’t force it on them. Let us prove it with our actions rather than convince them with our words. There are times where one is better than the other._ ”

It was times like these that made them understand how even though the general was openly sarcastic and playful, often disregarding most formalities, she still held an enormous amount of respect from her peers. She was reliable and kind, she was also fair and didn’t shy away from her mistakes, recognizing them and always acting to correct them. She never left things half done, and valued the life of her subordinates and even her enemies when she was afforded too. Kazi was sure that, even the previous Queen, with all her contempt in regards to the human race, if she had had the chance would have come to respect the general.

In the end, after almost a hour walking around, they are able to find the mage’s workshop. It was located on one of the highest points of the village and from there you could see almost everything. The local architecture was interesting. The buildings seemed to blend with the mountain side where it was perched on and it ended up at the edge of a ravine that feel into the desert. The ravine seemed to have the perfect height to reach the backs of the Amblers. The walls of the buildings were sand colored with most doors and windows painted in green. The buildings were also decorated with various patterns and the majority of the construction had flat slabs for their ceilings instead of tiled roofs. 

The door to the mage’s place had a small, but colorful plaque over the door. It depicted the symbol of every primal source in a circle with Korin’s written in the middle. The plaque was obviously aged showing that the shop existed for a long time already. Beside the door a cord for a bell danced with the weak breeze. 

Kazi pulls the cord and they can hear the ring of the bell muffled by the closed door. And although Amaya can’t hear footsteps approaching the door she seems to sense it, given the shift of her attention. 

The elf who opens the door is, surprisingly, a Startouched elf. The only one Amaya had seen before was the almost ghostly apparition accompanying Viren. In person they were way more striking. The elf looked young. The general was unsure if it was male, female or non binary like Kazi. They had a androgynous look and their clothes were flowing and shapeless, but gorgeous still. Deep blue and purple with rimming and details in silver thread that complemented well their complexion. Their long hair was braided and falling over their shoulder almost reaching their waist. Their horns followed the curve of their head and their face had star-like freckles.

"Hello…" the elf said looking at them with interest. Their voice sweet and slightly feminine.

"Would you be Korin?" Kazi asked pleasantly.

"That… would be my grandfather, however, he passed away ten years ago." They gave an unsure little smile. "Was your business specifically with him?" 

"Oh no, sorry, I…" Kazi stammered. Amaya may not be able to hear their trembling voice but she recognized their fidgeting. Rolling her eyes she slaps their shoulder with the back of her hand getting their attention and starting to sign. "Ah… your shop was indicated to us by a earthblood elf named Rogan. We're looking for prime stones for jewelry making, but with a specific shape." 

"I see. That's something I can help you with." They chuckled. "I'm Kaarin, Korin's granddaughter. As you may notice I inherited more than just his shop in a way. Please, come in." She invites giving them passage. "What would be the shape and primal source."

The small space dedicated to the shop was crammed with things. Plenty of objects that seemed more functional than decorative, rows of already made jewelry and open cases with exposed prime stones. Both little and big ones.

Amaya starts to sign explaining what she wished to do and Kazi quickly starts to translate. "I'm looking to make a bracelet, I need two prime Earth stones in the shape of rectangles one slightly smaller than the other."

"I have some in that shape already. We can see if any of them works for what you wish." She guides them to a small counter. Grabbing a case on her way. "If you don't mind me asking, do you already have someone to craft you the bracelet? As you can see…" She points to the rows with exposed jewelry. "I can also make them. If you describe it to me or if you have a design already drawn…"

The human smiled at that. She grabbed one of her pouches from where she took the satchel with the already purchased stones, a piece of red fabric and a folded up parchment. She unfolds the paper and shows it to the elf.

"How long do you think it would take for you to make it?" Kazi interprets seeing Amaya signing.

"Well I don't have any other commissions to fulfill at the moment, and you have most of the material here. It's not a hard design… if I have the missing stones ready already I can craft it for you in under four days. If not, a full week at least. So I can make or reshape the stones to match your design."

Amaya nodded in understanding, but she furrowed her brow a bit. She looked slightly disappointed. 

"Are you unsatisfied with the time I require?" Kaarin asked with a curious frown. "I may finish it earlier, but the delivery time I request is more of a guarantee I'll have it ready."

The general looks so lost in thought that Kazi has to tap her shoulder and translate again what the mage had said again.

Amaya gives a sign indicating that they shouldn't translate yet what she was going to say and they nod in understanding. " _I'm just missing Janai. I knew it could take a while but we've been away for a bit more than a week already. Then four more days or a week here and the travel back time._ " She sighed wistfully. " _You can tell her this: the time she required is fine, I'm just homesick._ "

Kazi relays what she asked them to and a shadow of comprehension pass over the other elf's face and she gives them a sympathetic little smile.

"If I finish earlier I'll be sure to warn you." She gave a shallow bow. "Now how about we see if I have the stones to match what you want." The elf points do the opened case in front of her.

Amaya peruses the contents of it with great interest. She would grab now and then two stones comparing their sizes and putting back on the case when they didn't satisfy her. After a couple minutes of inspection she seems to find the perfect pair. 

She gives it to the elf mage and says through Kazi that they would be at the inn in town and if she were to finish it earlier she just had to send a message for them there and that she should take as long as she needed and shouldn't feel pressured by her sentimentality. The mage nods and they leave soon after so they can check in at the inn they had passed by on their way to the shop.

Kazi had noted that side by side the stones looked proportionally like the symbol of Katolis, the two uneven towers. Understanding downs on their faces and they smile to themselves at how much thought and detail the human had put into it. While the bracelet she wore was clearly Sunfire, Amaya managed to drawn up something that not only would complement it but still held symbolism that really represented her and her origins.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm also so glad that you guys all agree with me on the Amaya thing. She is just too precious. Janai is too, but maaan, Amaya <3.
> 
> By the way, not on the next chapter, but soon we will see others canon characters! Such as: Ezran, Callum, Rayla aaaaaand Claudia!
> 
> PS.: did you guys know that apparently Janai and Khessa have a brother? He is currently unnamed, and on a redit thread the crew from TDP tried to make a little bit of mystery about he being able to claim the throne or not. BUT at the same time on the oficial wiki for TDP it says that Janai is the next in line given that Khessa never had kids.
> 
> He will appear on this fic, however he will be way younger, I just need to see how much younger is plausible for him to be. and that will influence his role on the fic. I better start name hunting too...


	5. Not an enemy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Remember on the notes for chapter 4 when I said I was just going to sit and finish the chapter already? So.. like not even 5 minutes after I posted the chapter a friend of mine called me and invited me to visit a Museum. Like right at that moment, she was already leaving home! The Universe must really like to mess with me, uh?
> 
> No matter, I finished chapter 5 (even being able to quite like the end), and chapter 6 is also done already! I just need to do the drawings I wanted. 
> 
> Question about that, btw... should I just post it here, or at the end of whatever chapter I'll be when I finish it, or should I make this some sort of collection and post them as another work related to this one? On PC it might not be a bother, but images with texts on mobile can be a pain...

The message for them arrives at the end of the third day saying they could go get their order as soon as the shop opened at the next morning.

They eat their breakfast yearly with Amaya eating at least twice as much as Kazi. She is clearly excited about the prospect of finally going home. They had organized all their things the previous night as soon as they got the letter. The general had also cared to send message to the stable where the Inferno-tooth was waiting for them.

Amaya had gone there every day they have been waiting, but the message had arrived for them after she had paid her visit already. Amaya then asked and generously tipped one of the inn’s workers that were finishing their work and were about to leave for home if they could take the message there. The little kitchen helper that she had approached, stared open mouthed the amount of money the human had offered them and nodded in acceptance of the task, quickly running out of the building. And so, everything was ready for them to leave as soon as they got what they came all this way for with Kaarin. 

The walk to the mage’s shop is pretty peaceful despite the looks Amaya would still get from time to time. On their second day on the small town they had been approached by local guards. Some residents seemed to have a problem with a human walking around wearing armor and carrying weapons, even if it was just a short sword and her shield. 

They had followed the guards to their station where they explained their presence there as briefly as possible. It was made easier by the fact that they had heard about the Unity’s forces, although it seemed they lacked a lot of details about their mission. Kazi’s presence with their official clothing made things easier too. And they soon were free to go. As a parting word Amaya had offered help to them whenever they needed. They just had to contact one of their posts and forces would be sent for aid. Their nod of acknowledgement was polite but showed how unwilling they were of calling them for help.

They were scrutinized yet unperturbed on their way to the shop. Kaarin receives them with a warm smile and joking that she almost had expected them earlier, first thing in the morning even before the store opened.

“One learns to be patient with age…” Kazi translates and them frowns mumbling in a way that just the mage seems to be able to catch. “I don’t know why she speaks as if she were ancient sometimes…”

“Might be some sort of human humor?” She suggests going behind the counter and bending down to get their order.

For all that Amaya had said it was indeed almost expected that she would be rushing to see her present for Janai ready, and yet she had suddenly stopped staring absently minded to the shelves of exposed jewelry. Kazi turns to her slightly worried, but when a mischievous grin starts to grow on her face… then they really do start to worry. 

“ _What is it?_ ” They sign catching her attention.

“ _Oh, nothing…_ ” She shrugs, her smile now positively devious. “ _These just remind me of two certain someones…_ ” She reaches for two necklaces and take them to the counter where she meets the mage, who eyed her curiously. “ _Would it be unfitting for me to gift these to my nephew and his sweetheart?_ ”

“ _It would mostly show that you approve the match._ ” Kazi frowns still confused by the General’s mirth.

They don’t get an answer however. Amaya just adds the two necklaces to her purchase.

When Kaarin opens the little box that houses the bracelet the human’s face softens and her eyes shine with wonder. The mage had really done an amazing work. Amaya reaches for it and delicately holds it with reverence, her hands slightly trembling. The bracelet was not ostentatious. It's a simple band of red soft cloth, the red of Katolis, with golden geometric designs stitched upon it. The two asymmetrical rectangular prime stones where held together in gold casings resembling Katolis seal and the four remaining round ones where distributed through the rest of the band at regular intervals, two at each side of the rectangular ones, and the clasp of the bracelet was made of gold. 

“ _It’s perfect._ ” Amaya says resting the bracelet back into its box so she can sign properly.

She holds the still opened box in her hands, the scar on her left palm catching her attention. She had healed really well from the burn, even with all the fighting done afterwards, the blood and sweat spilled at the storm spire, under the great shadow of a frozen king. The scar brought memories of loss and rage… but mostly it reminded Amaya of love, trust and understanding. It reminded her of all the things she had with Janai, even when they barely knew each other. When they could hardly communicate with one another. All they had gone through… it made Amaya feel like they were inevitable. Their fates interwoven.

They finish the transaction between them smoothly, with the human going as far as asking if Kaarin would like to be one of the purveyors for Unity’s possible needs of enchanted and prime stones tools. After the General explained their mission and how the order worked the mage was inclined to think about it and promised to sent word to them with her answer once she decided it. 

They left soon after and Kazi lead their way down the hill side in the direction of the stables. It was a barn looking building, the only one made of mostly wood, it stood out a little from the rest of the local architecture even though it carried the same colors as the rest. 

Apparently there were other towns such as the one they were at, each in a different corner of the great desert. This was Green Hill, there was also Yellow Cliff, Red Oasis, Blue Stone and Grey Sand, that one being on the border between The Midnight Desert and this one, as Kazi had explained. Amaya guessed the others also were decorated in the colors they were named after.

The doors to the barn leading into the building and the covered stable was wide open. A carriage was parked at it's door and was being unloaded and two hart looking animals were being unharnessed and taken inside by a stablehand. The elves working on the carriage looked at Amaya with apprehension, almost as if expecting her to jump on them. Their posture turning more tense as they approached. 

The human, who wore her leather armor and carried her weapons and also the bags with their belongings, walked with confidence, head held high and apparently ignoring the looks. Kazi, however, the closer they got the more they fidgeted, wringing their hands and fingers and giving the workers frequent side glances. The interpreter erratic behavior only serving to instigate them more.

However, before any of the parties could make any move, the same older elf that greeted them when they first arrived appeared with Dollan already ready to go. 

“He was getting agitated when you didn’t appear at your usual time to visit him, General Amaya.” he smiled bringing the prideful beast closer to them. “He calmed down a little after I started saddling him up. I suppose he understood you would be leaving today.” 

Under the stare of the previously tense elves, Dollan trotted to Amaya who smiled and opened her arms in a receptive way. The large animal just rubbed it’s head against her chest and gave out a loud purr. The human grinned fluffing out his fur causing even more of the rumbling noise.

“It really is a sight, no matter how many times I witness it.” He chuckles calling to Kazi. “Should we close the tab while the General spoils him?” 

The interpreter nods in agreement moving to follow the old elf, but glances to the other works who had seemed so hostile a few moments ago. But for Kazi’s amusement the previously wary looks had now morphed into one of surprise and somewhat admiration. One of them was even blushing profusely looking at the warm smile the human had on her face while she played and hugged Dollan.

When they come back they could see that they were trying to have a conversation with Amaya while she strapped their belongings to the saddle.

“So, it’s like an army of Xadians and Humans?” The blushing one asked, trying to see if he had understood correctly, and smiles when Amaya nods. 

The General notices Kazi almost immediately and urges him to approach them. “ _He knows sign language but is not the same… it’s different even from the sunfire one._ ” she tells them and then turns back to the workers and starts to sign again, this time with Kazi translating.

“Two human kingdoms, Katolis and Duren, and from Xadia the Moonshadow, Skywing, Sunfire and the Dragons agreed to form this order. We’re trying to expand with other nations and also here in Xadia with other elves. I understand the hesitance, however, and hope to be able to prove that we’re not trying to enforce anything, but that we can work together for a common goal. There is a lot of badblood and misunderstandings between Xadians and humans though. So we’re here to help with it the integration, diplomatically if possible or taking to arms if needed. Each group participating have a representative in a council to ensure all sides are heard.” Was the explanation given. And Amaya beamed at their interested expressions. “Our main headquarter here in Xadia is in Lux Aurea and we often exercise with the Sunfire army. If the word is spread and other elves start to have an interest in joining Unity they can easily look for us there. With enough numbers and an official support a place on the council could reasonably be requested.”

Amaya was feeling very smug, waving and biding her farewell to the two elves she had been talking to. The Earthblood family they had met before were very friendly, but their interest in her seemed more of a novelty type of thing than anything else. These two just now, even though, wary of her at first, decided to keep an open mind and approached her asking what the coat of arms she whore meant, given it obvious mixing of elven and human design.

Maybe the whole of the Earthbloods wouldn’t show their support yet, but if at least one or two could show their interest and decide to join, more would be sure to follow. And maybe with time their people would show more of an active interest and decide to have a representative too, even if it was just so they wouldn’t be left out on this new type of politics.

She mounted Dollan, who had started to get unquiet with their lingering, and quickly pulled Kazi up, not giving the poor scholar time to try for themselves.

“ _I could have gotten up on my own you know?_ ” they signed with a frown and crossing their arms with a huff. 

Their pouting was really cute and Amaya quickly tapped her index and middle finger on her chin sending them an exaggerated and salacious playful wink, causing an immediate blush to rise from neck, through the face and all the way to the tip of their pointy ears, a horrified expression painting their face.

“I really don’t know how Her Radiance puts up with you.” They grunted, quickly grabbing at Amaya’s middle section with the sudden lurch when Dollan took to the skies, and the human now facing ahead she simply shook her wrist adorned with the bracelet. And truly that was all the answer they needed. 

Their accent started with lazy circles, over the village, with each pass they rose higher, and would keep doing so if not for the commotion that seemed to have started on one of the access to the town on the opposite side from the stables where they housed Dollan.

Pointing themselves in that direction, the cause of the chaos quickly became obvious. A menacing shadow much like the one of a Moonshadow elf under the full moon, moving fast and with precision, attacking the villagers that yelled and tried to flee away from it. The town guards tried to break through the panicking crowd, but where clearly having trouble.

Dollan dived as low as possible without risking hitting any of the people running away from it. Her was a little over a store up from the ground and fast approaching the menacing shadow, Amaya unstrapped her shield from the saddle, tapping at Kazi’s hand so they would untangle from her. She quickly threw her leg over the saddle taking a side mounted position. 

As soon as they were to fly over the attacking creature she jumped down, just in time to block with her shield, an incoming attack directed at a fallen and bleeding female elf. The impact pushing her back almost a foot. Given no time for reaction she gyrated her body, drawing her shortsword and cutting downward in the direction of the attacker.

The shorter than usual sword gave only a shallow cut, but the creature’s reaction and the feeling of the hit pegged as odd to her. It was as if she was cutting through a gelatinous yet gaseous body, and the creature showed no sign of pain. Trying to keep the attention of the shadow solely on her, she quickly accessed her opponent. It indeed looked like a Moonshadow elf, however it seemed to be permanently stuck on their shadowy appearance even though the Sun was high in the sky and the full moon still a week away. It’s face was full of hatred and killing intent and other than it, it felt just like an empty vessel, carrying the feelings of another. It looked like the moonshadow assassins raised from their death by an infuriated and contradicted Viren.

She knew he had summoned four. Sending them to the other human kingdoms, killing two monarchs and gravely wounding another. The only one who had survived the ordeal mostly without any loss had been Queen Aanya, who had dispatched somehow, her wannabe assassin. Kasef had also eliminated the shadow sent to his kingdom, but not before it had already reached his father. Amaya had assumed the other two had dissipated after fulfilling its mission or at least after Viren’s final death.

She had been wrong apparently. 

The corrupted creature was still around and somehow had ended all the way back into Xadia, deep into the continent. 

She didn’t have much time to speculate at the moment however. It came with another attack in her direction, which she easily deflected with her shield following with a quick step and stab with her sword in the direction of the enemy. And again her attack seemed to have little effect, other than causing it to stagger back. It was solid even though it didn't particularly felt as such.

It was also hard to read, given it’s emptiness, and very fast, but its attacks were reckless and didn’t compare to the usual grace and precision of the Moonshadow fighting style. 

They continued to exchange blows, with Amaya getting most of the hits, but barely getting any results out of them. And although she had deflected or countered most of the attacks against her she still got nicked a couple times. Thankfully all superficial wounds, but blood poured out of it staining her clothes with crimson. Had she been with her usual armor and longer sword, the fight would be happening very differently, but she was lighter than usual and with a smaller reach. Nothing she couldn't adapt with, as proven by her numerous hits, but the fight was taking longer than she would like it to.

With a sudden push, that caused her to trip, Dollan once more dived in, throwing the creature a few feet away from Amaya and flying up again, giving the time not only for the general to right herself, but for her to get a surprise attack with her shield. She pushes and throw the shadow against a wall of a nearby building, she follows the movement with throwing her sword easily hitting it in the shoulder and pining it to the wall. When it went to try to pull out the sword, she rushed in, pushing her shield against it and pressing its arm against its chest and its body against the wall, finally stopping and trapping it.

The reflection of light on her bracelet, sparking an idea on her head. With the hand of her shield arm she quickly drew on the air, in golden lines, one of the runes that Janai had taught her. And thinking and concentrating on the meaning of the word light and remembering especially of the trial she had gone through where her world had turned into a bright and hot blindness, the prime stones on the bracelet on her free arm started to glow. First faintly, until it started to get brighter and brighter with a luminosity that could almost rival the midday sun. Amaya felt her body fall forward, her shield hitting the wall while the light flashed out leaving only dust of what once was the corrupted facsimile of the fallen Moonshadow assassin.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter we will have: 1- A bit of what happened on the past 2 years! 2- The location and the name of Janai's younger brother! 3-Kind of Janai's POV! 4- Their reunion. Yay!
> 
> There still a BUNCH I want to put on this story... yeah it really is going to be a longer ride than I first had planed. I didn't bring enough provisions, oh noes, please feed me on the way!  
> Thanks!


	6. Not far anymore

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one has a bit of somber part, a peek of what happened during the missing two years. More will be said as the story goes on, obviously, but you get the gist of it.
> 
> You guys are also kinda introduced to Janai young brother.
> 
> Amaya and Janai also finally meet again! Yay.......

The first few days had been fine. Really. Janai was a queen and very busy after all. But one day became two, then three and soon a week had passed. She had bid her farewell to Pyrrah and sent her regards to the king of Katolis on the day after Amaya had left in her journey. A letter arrived from them a few days later and yet no word of the general yet.

She wished she had asked more about Amaya’s objective. She trusted the woman, of course, but maybe knowing what was going on would have made her feel less restless. During the day, her expression was impassive and indifferent. Her mind was busy with the final touches of Lux Aurea’s reconstruction. 

Two years ago she had thought the hardest thing she would ever had to do was taking her sister's place on the throne and purifying the Sun Nexus, reactivating the sun forge and bringing light again to her people. It had been exhausting times. So soon after the battle at the Storm Spire they had numerous things to do. Soon Viren was proven to be still alive and loose with his daughter and the mysterious ghostly elf on his side. 

For six months Lux Aurea remained dark and lifeless, pretty much a ghost town. The population evacuated and settled in other cities for the time being. Her attention was divided between ways of recuperating it and on the hunt for Viren. In the end his death didn’t come from her hands.

Amaya and a few of her men and also some high ranking soldiers from Duren had joined their forces with the Sunforged troops. The Skywing and Moonshadow also had joined their hunt, and Pyrrah took to the skies scouting ahead of them.

In the end they had found the daughter first. Claudia was her name. Broken and weak, the corruption of the dark magic visible on her being. Yet on her eyes there was only pain. The boy, Soren, and also Callum had implored for a bit of mercy. For the opportunity of talking to her. It was only at Amaya’s resigned nod that she had relented. Others tried to protest, but with a bit of conversation they were able to reach an agreement.

In the end it had been for the best, for it was the girl herself who had put an end to it. Distraught and betrayed by the cruel manipulation of her father she used dark magic for the last time. Viren had done so much harm and she had helped him along, she had accepted and believed in everything he had told her, she had turned her back on her brother and friends, believing them as traitors. In a moment of clarity and rage and sorrow, when her father seemed like he’d strike his own son without a shadow of hesitation or remorse, she had ended with it all. She had ended him. Using his own magic that stole the life of others for his own purpose, she stole his life to fix at least some of his doing. Aaravos’ ghostly avatar flicking out of existence while the little bug he had used to communicate with the dark mage dried and died. The threat of his continuous existence foreboding and heavy on them all. 

Claudia, now with her hair entirely white, skin pale and sickly looking, eyes hollowed and dark, had fallen into a deep sleep, looking like death itself. She stayed in a coma for at least a month. A month in which they noticed that the corruption of the Sun Nexus gradually dissipated letting it shine once again.

Soren divided his time between his service and the care of his sister, rarely taking care of himself. When the girl woke up her first request was for her to be killed, to be punished for her crimes. She begged for it. Refusing to eat for almost a week. Callum and Rayla almost had fallen out due to the boy’s insistence in visiting and talking with the girl. In the end it was his attention with the help of Soren and Ezran that had convinced her to start eating again. To start talking again. And finally she told them all that she was able to.

The coins with numerous people sealed within them were found and the magic imprisoning them was reversed. Rayla’s parents, Runaan and a dozen others, Xadians and Humans alike, were freed. Not without pain however. As soon as Runaan had come forth the assassin’s bond on his left arm finally closed, due the failure of killing Ezran. Everything happening too fast for anyone to react. A distraught scream of pain and he had lost his arm and was quickly losing a lot of blood.

All the things and beings Viren had acquired through the years had been recuperated, the only thing still missing was the mirror of Aaravos. Claudia was assured that her father hadn’t been able to free the elf mage, nevertheless the mirror was gone. She didn't know what he did with it they weren't carrying it around when she was still with him. 

Yet, not all wrongs could be fixed and even if she didn’t ask for death anymore she begged for a punishment for her crimes. In the end, Amaya boldly suggested for the Trial of Light and the purification they had wanted to do with Viren when all this madness had started. Claudia agreed to it even knowing the possible consequences, staring into the light and bowing her head to the Sun, she opened herself to It’s judgement.

It had been hard and tiring. But it had passed. And as soon as it did the creation of the peacekeeping force had begun. At the same time, the reconstruction of Lux Aurea turned into a priority. The first of the people to come back where the ones who would work on it. Only since four months ago more of the civilians started to return to the city and their homes. The nobles and court members of less political importance returning then too and flooding the palace with their presence and complaints about the humans' continuous presence. Janai was quick to shut them up pointing that without their help Lux Aurea would probably still be dark. The large population however seemed excited and hopeful with the prospect of peace and alliance with the humans who had helped to protect and save the Dragon Prince. 

Even with all that, the silence and lack of news from Amaya on the last few days had felt almost as hard. Janai felt incredibly silly for that. She was a grown woman and a Queen after all. Not a teenager with a crush. She has half a mind of going after the General herself when she remembers that she had loaned Dollan to them, leaving her without a flying mount. She huffs and blushes noticing that she was halfway to the stables when she remembers it. Thankfully, there was no one around, for once, to witness her embarrassment. She also made a mental note of taking Amaya to capture and tame her own Inferno-Tooth Tiger. 

Apparently a flock of them had arrived at the outskirts of Lux Aurea.

News only come a little past a week and a half. And they’re not entirely happy either. Apparently there was still remains of Viren’s foul magic walking around. Somehow the creatures used by the dark mage to instigate the humans' Kingdoms into attacking Xadia had crossed the border and started to harm the elven population. How it had gotten so far into the continent evading detection they didn’t know, but apparently there was still one that was unaccounted for. On better news, she was finally on her way back.

Unity’s headquarters was also bustling with activity. Apparently she had sent a letter to them too, ordering a small group of soldiers, preferably composed of mostly elves, to scour the land in search of the remaining creature. Or at least news of it. She also informed to have sent the same order to the headquarters in the human side, with the only difference being that there the group should be of mostly humans, as to not antagonize the populace. Her orders were carried quickly and later on the same day a small group of Moonshadows left for their mission. 

Amaya arrived on the same day that a letter from Duran did. She noticed the commotion in the form of her guard movements and agitation. Not a tense one, but an excited buzz like the ones from her time as the Golden Knight, Khessa always complained to her about it, saying it disturbed the pace of the whole castle, just because of some silly hero worship. She could agree with her sister on the point that it did stir up the usual routine, but she didn’t see it as a bad thing. She could tell by the way people moved and whispered who exactly had arrived. If it was friend or foe, someone trusted, loved or someone unknown.

She got as restless as the rest of them and she was chewing her cheek, anxious with the lack of Amaya coming through the doors of her throne room. She wished to just get up and leave, going after the human she missed so much. 

They have been apart for longer before. While Unity was still after locations for their posts and trying to recruit people. And even though she had made Lux Aurea her home base she was still aunt to Katoli’s King, she still was a noble there and she still oversaw most of its army. As well as the training of the prince and King. Callum had vehemently been against it, saying how awful he had been at it when Soren was training him and that he had his magic now, but she wouldn’t have none of that. She just threw a spear at him and forced the boy into a spar.

One could say she was simply a better teacher whether others would argument about compatibility with the weapon of choice. But in Amaya’s opinion he was just too much like his mother, he wasn’t as good or dedicated as Sarai, but at least now if magic failed him he would still be able to defend himself. His jittery and shy behavior, where he became a fumbling mess in front of anyone he had a crush on, was all his father, however. 

Ezran had also started training, mostly with Corvus, and although he seemed slightly better than his brother was at his age, Corvus style didn’t complement much the young King's taste. So to find the style that best suited him Amaya had asked many soldiers to make demonstrations to him. He had enjoyed the sword and shield, not a tower shield like his aunt’s, but smaller round ones. He also liked to train the bow, so he could have small amicable competitions with Aanya whenever possible.

Thinking of Amaya’s nephews was surprisingly enjoyable for Janai. She came to care for them through her and she was constantly amazed at how they often surpassed her expectations. The way they fought for peace, the mission they put upon themselves. Their profound connection with Azymondias, especially Ezran’s. But with someone like Amaya being their aunt, she shouldn’t have expected any less, really.

And Janai missed her, she knew she had arrived and yet that stubborn duty bound woman - like she could criticize anyone on that… - still haven't come to meet her. She was almost bolting, abandoning court for a later hour, when the Palace’s Courier entered the hall, marching in her direction and stopping almost ten feet away from the dias. With a deep bow, he extended the scroll he carried.

“A letter from the Human Kingdom of Duran arrived to be directly handed to you, Your Radiance.” The courier announced still in a deep bow. “The missive that came with it instructed that it shouldn’t be read with the usual mail and bears the seal of their Queen.”

One of Janai’s personal guard, an old colleague from her training days, accepted the scroll and took it to her. When it was in her hands she could see the still intact blue wax seal of Duren. She broke it and unrolled the parchment. A smaller one that had been folded prior to been rolled together with the main letter fell on her lap. Curiously she picked it up, inspecting it before reading the one she still held open.

It was from Aanya, her penmanship elegant and small.

> _To the Sunfire Queen Janai, The Great Light of Lux Aurea_
> 
> _Your Radiance, I rejoice in your continuous success in bringing Lux Aurea to its former glory. I hear the renewals and reconstructions are almost finished._
> 
> _Prince Ihlas has shown great interest in our archery techniques. His training with our army has been fruitful to both parties. Last we met, he also asked me to remind you and the General that he is no longer a squire, having graduated from it long ago. I reckon he wishes to gain a higher rank or to be sent on missions._
> 
> _The preparations for the first Summit that Xadia’s finest will participate is well underway. I and King Ezran agreed for it to happen on our side of the continent as an act of good faith giving how many humans had already marched into Xadian lands on the last couple of years._
> 
> _The summit will happen in a secure locations at the border of Katolis and Duran, accommodations for the numbers you suggested has already been provided. So now it’s just a matter of security._
> 
> _Evenere has shown interest in joining our alliance. Given its swampy terrain it must be a matter of resources most likely, even though it had shown a tendency for self-sufficiency in previous years. With a new and inexperienced monarch their limitations may have become more apparent, however._
> 
> _It’s a situation we must discuss at the Summit, but I figured you should be aware of it so you can better study the idea. I’m sure General Amaya will be able to give you plenty of information on the country. I heard she paid visits to it with a certain frequency a few years back, even though it’s quite dreary place, if we’re to heed people’s opinion._
> 
> _However the real reason I'm sending this letter as such and ahead of our usual schedule is due to the missive I annexed here for your perusal._
> 
> _I would also appreciate if you could reign in your beloved. General Amaya must be aware that I don’t personally read all my mail. Most of it is delivered and read by our Crow Lord, much like they do on Katolis, unless its previously notified as a personal message._
> 
> _Given that, it would really be appreciated if she could be more careful with her chosen vocabulary. I was able to dismiss it this time without any consequence, but I can’t promise to always be able to._
> 
> _My most sincere regards._
> 
> _Queen Aanya, The Child Queen, The Shining Hope of Duren._
> 
> _Ps.: Please inform her that we restrained it, and after a whole day in the Solar Prison it just vanished when the Sun reached its peak._

With a sense of curiosity and dread, Janai opened the folded letter. It had small signs of a broken wax seal, and the parchment was smaller and showed a bit of wear compared with the one it came with. She’d be able to recognize the clear and precise penmanship anywhere. It had no flourish or pomp and was neat and easy to read.

> _Dear Queen Aanya, The Shining Hope of Duren._
> 
> _How the fuck did you defeat those hellish aberrations Lord Viren sent to assassinate you?_
> 
> _I hope you’re well._
> 
> _Regards,_
> 
> _Amaya, General of Katolis Standing Battalion, Leader of Unity: First Peacekeeping Force of the Allied Human Kingdoms and Xadia._

A facepalm couldn’t express enough of Janai’s mortification. That woman would still be the death of her. And Queen Aanya, that little cheeky thing, calling Amaya her beloved. No matter how right she was, it wasn’t even something they have public announced yet, and to have a child notice and point it out, no matter how wise beyond her age she was, was incredibly mortifying.

She greatly wishes to make what they have official, but they never really talked about it. When she gave Amaya the bracelet she was mostly motivating herself in doing so. And any elf that came to notice it would easily know what that meant even if her human didn’t know.

However she had demonstrated to have an inkling of its meaning and had, much like herself, become more open with their demonstrations of affection. They finally started to act more like a couple instead of really close friends that found comfort with each other. 

And then, Amaya had **left**! For days without any sort of news! And when it comes its of a dreary situation. Then when she finally arrives she has the gall to not greet her first thing! That duty-bound knucklehead! And yes, she was aware of her hypocrisy. It didn’t ease her annoyance, nor her desire to finally see Amaya again, however.

They were definitely going to hunt a Twin-tailed Inferno-tooth tiger, this week! Janai was going to make sure of it. Even if it was just so they could have a little bit of alone time. 

She pounded the arm of her throne with an annoyed sneer startling everyone in the hall. She got up dismissing the court for the day and walked out, fast paced and almost leaving behind her guard, that rushed to follow her. She twisted her way through numerous corridors and passageways until she left the main building of the palace and marched in the direction of the administrative building of Unity, where she knew she would be able to find Amaya.

And as if to prove her correct, right from the opened double door exited Amaya, quickly followed by Kazi who was almost panting, suggesting that they had probably been following an equally fast paced General for quite a while.

“We have to talk.” Janai huffed approaching, her scowl gradually melting away. Her answer was a stern nod, that quickly gave way to a bright smile however.

Two more steps and they were finally in each other's arms. 

Their relationship was no secret… but it also never had been as obvious.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> .....Too bad it just really quick and at the end.
> 
> Next: Talkies and smooches.


	7. Not far from the heart

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I made a drawing... it's on this chapter... let's see if it will work out. i've made others, but didn't finish them... I want to try editing them first.  
> Otherwise like I said this chapter is smoochies and talkies mostly.

The first time they kissed is a bit blurred in Amaya’s mind. She doesn’t remember it very well, not out of indifference or something like that. She was just very hurt and very dazed and on the brink of passing out. They were in the middle of the search for Lord Viren, Lux Aurea was still under a cursed infinite night, a ghost town for lack of a better description. Janai’s troops and Amaya’s own, meeting for the first time in a month after they had parted ways in their hunt. And she couldn’t have found them in a better time either.

Janai and the men under her command were retreating after having found the Sun Prince tailing them, wanting to be a hero in his own right, like Janai had been when she was his age. Annoyed with the overprotective behavior of his older sister and wanting to prove himself, he accidentally put everyone in danger. Corrupted beasts left behind by the dark mage attacked them, cleaving through men with terrifying ease. The remaining soldiers accompanying her were able to hold back the creatures while Janai tried to put her younger brother, her only heir and family left, somewhere safe. He didn't understand why he couldn’t fight. Why he should stay safe and sound while her, their army and a bunch of humans out of all things went after a crazed man.

Amaya arrived then, interrupting their argument and putting herself in the way of an attack neither saw coming. She passed out with how she had thrown herself between them and the creature. The last of the beasts that had attacked them. Apparently Amaya’s group found what was left of her men, assisted them in killing the creatures but one had ran, badly wounded, but still raging and going straight to them. The general followed with her mount, jumping from it and in front of the beast, letting herself be hurt so she could be close enough to stab her sword right into the beast's neck, giving it a clean and quick death. She was still clamped in its jaw, however, and under the weight of its body.

It took eight men to take her out of its mouth and from under it. Their group, now joined as one made camp right there. Not wanting to move the wounded too much. Janai ordered for the human to be put on her tent and for their best healer to tend to her. Luckily, the lithe and youthful girl new magic. She didn’t have a light-being mode, but she knew enough that she was able to help and stabilize the human’s condition. It had been more the impact together with the exhaustion of the journey, than the extension of the wounds that had knocked Amaya out.

It was then, when Amaya woke up after six hours, that they kissed for the first time. The human still dazed and the elf overflowing with relief.

Their second kiss happened after they had defeated Viren. The Sun Forge and the Nexus shining again, Lux Aurea finally brought to life. The festivities were city wide, elves of all kinds that had participated in the storm spire battle, humans and dragons all together in commemoration. They found the space to get away from the crowd. Walking through the rubble of the city they saw how much they still had to do, but right then they were both alive, they had both survived and they were together. The kiss was inevitable and all consuming. At that moment there was only them and nothing else.

They’ve kissed numerous times since then. When they were alone and had been away from each other for a long time, or after a tiring day relaxing alone under candle light. It had always been private... Not secretive, but private.

But that was then. 

Now? 

Now Amaya kissed Janai, the Sunfire Queen, The Great Light of Lux Aurea, regardless of who was there to see. The Queen had marched in her direction, stern and annoyed face morphing into one of happiness and relief. Their arms folded around each other in synchrony, and with a slight pull the general brought Janai down for a meeting of lips. And they would have probably lost themselves in each other if not for the very fake cough calling to the Queen's attention.

Janai looked over her lover’s shoulder at a very flushed Kazi, who refused to look her in the eye. With a small chuckle, that Amaya felt through its vibration and a warm puff of air against her neck, the Sunfire Queen pulled herself away, still in each other’s embrace but with half of an arms’ length in between them. 

“We really should talk.” Janai said with a smile reserved solely to her human, and once again she got a nod, this time a soft expression taking place on her face.

Separating from each other, they hold their hands together and once again Janai stares at Kazi, an eyebrow arched in a silent question.

“Dollan has already been unloaded and put to rest on his pen, the General’s belongings already sent to her room, your Radiance.” They answer with a respectful bow.

Janai aquiesces before turning on her own feet, giving a slight tug on her joined hand as an indication they were to leave. Amaya quickly follows, no questions asked, and the blushing yet expressionless guards wisely do the same, properly positioning themselves around the couple.

They don’t go to court, or any of the official rooms. Janai makes a beeline to the royal residential wing of the castle, where the quarters for the royal family, and whoever she invited, resided. Amaya had a personal apartment there containing a small personal office, a full equipped bathroom, her bedroom and a small functional kitchen joined with a reception area and living room. It was lavish and around the same size as her chambers back in Katolis, but twice adorned. Chambers she had there just because she was sister to the late Queen, her entry into the royal family brought her a title she rarely used, her private rooms sparsely used given her preference of the barracks, specially after Sarai’s death. 

Here in Lux Aurea it was different though. The barracks where a bit away from the castle and both Unity’s men and the Sunfire Army stationed in the city shared it. The apartment permitted her to be closer to Janai, it took awhile for her to accept the offer, but since then it was now her room in the barracks that hardly saw her.

“ _My room or yours?_ ” Janai signs after sending the guards away to keep guard at the entrance of the wing.

“ _Mine, if you don’t mind._ ” Amaya tugged at her hand leading them there. “ _Like you said, there are things we need to discuss and my stuff was sent there._ ”

“ _Will you tell me why you had to leave?_ ” At that question there was a noticeable and very cute frown on the elf’s face, bringing a grin to the human’s lips. 

“ _We will see…_ ” she provokes, opening the door to her room and inviting the Queen inside.

Amaya had made some changes to the room. The golden chandelier hanging over the reception area and adjoined living room was still there and so was the golden fixtures on the walls. However she had returned some of the more idyllic paintings and added some of her own. She had kept the painting of a birds eye view of Lux Aurea, hanging besides it one of Katolis capital with its castle on the background. There was also a relatively large painting of a countryside village that she had hung in her bedroom. Lots of green and very sparse houses at the distance, the main focus being a wooden house at the edge of a forest with leather working equipment at the side under the house’s extended roof.

It was Amaya’s childhood house and village. She and her sister never went back there after they left, but Sarai had commissioned the painting after she married Harrow, and the king had gifted the painting to her after the queen passed away. Janai had lost herself in the picture countless times, imagining a young Amaya running around and playing with her older sister.

Other things Amaya had changed was the color scheme of the room. Less white and gold, and more reds and black. There was also some fur blankets and throws around the apartment, and her personal office almost looked more like a small and under equipped smithy than an actual office. 

Janai went straight to a very comfortable and lavish sofa, while Amaya entered the kitchen, probably making preparations for some tea. The elf also noticed that Amaya’s things were still there on the living area, suggesting that the maids had not made their rounds here yet or they did before the page who probably brought it here arrived.

Noticing that Amaya was walking in her direction carrying a tray with a teapot, a pair of cups and a plate of cookies on it, she signs knowing she had her attention. “ _Did they refill your pantry?_ ” Her answer was a nod while the human put down the tray on a nearby table so she could sit next to Janai. “ _Your armor is poking me._ ” The queen complains after nudging the general. 

With an eye roll she gets up again, unharnessing her leather armor and leaving it on top of an armchair, she also takes off her boots and socks remaining with only her cloth under armor. Looking back at Janai she just arches an eyebrow and gestures to the top of her head. Chuckling the queen takes of her crown and lays it near the tray. It was an agreement they had. On their personal quarters they were just them, not their titles or obligations. Just them, on equal footing.

“ _May we cuddle and actually have the conversation we need to now?_ ” The human’s sass was palpable.

“Let's start by the more serious matters…” Janai said, patting the sofa in a gesture for Amaya to join her on it. “I received a letter from the queen of Duren, you know?” The human just frowned at her in question, and since she was speaking with sporadic and still not fully fluent signing, Amaya sat in a way so that they were facing each other. "Amaya you can't send letters worded like that to the queen of another nation! Luckily you didn't offend Aanya, but she did request that if you're to be so casual with her again for the letter to be sent to her privately at least."

" _I sent many letters that day. Must have escaped my mind_." Amaya shrugs with an apologetic flinch of her face. " _There is much to do. The fact that these phantoms are still roaming about… I sent word to our garrison in Duren for them to send Ihlas to Katolis. Until we solve this it's better for him to be with one of us. Or in a major city rather than an Outpost. I'll have to leave for Katolis sooner than planned. We also have to find a way to warn the other kingdoms without causing more alarm and false accusations. If you could lend me Dollan again…_ "

Janai takes Amaya's erratic and rambling hands into her inclining forward and giving the other woman a small peck on the lips.

"Rest, you're going too fast, but I think I understood. Thank you for caring so much about my younger brother." She pecks the human's lips again. "Was that a name sign for Dollan? I'm assuming it's him you're talking about…” Amaya nods. “But… sorry, no."

"Why?" Amaya vocalizes, given that her hands are still held by the elf.

She looked at her with the softest of adoring smiles for so long that Amaya has to squeeze her hands to get her back on track. "Sorry… I just mean you can't take Dollan." And the human arches her eyebrows as if repeating her question and Janai blushes profusely before answering. "I went half mad with how long you were away with no news at all and I wasn't able to just go after you because you were with him. So… there is a flock nearby… they arrived early last week. We will hunt and tame one for you. Won't take more than a couple days probably, given your affinity and all."

Amaya shakes her hands free from Janai’s and move them to cradle her face, calloused thumbs caressing her cheeks in adoration, pulling her into a deep kiss. “ _I’m sorry._ ” She signs. “ _We can do that. I just got so worried. I thought we were done with Viren. I got swept on it so much that I almost forgot why I went on this quest in the first place..._ ” 

She takes Janai’s left wrist in her hands, staring deep in her eyes, inviting the queen to not look away from her. When she is done her smile widens and her hold on the elf’s wrist moves to her hands and she gives her a light squeeze. 

“ _I asked Kazi what this bracelet meant, you know?_ ” She adds with a wink.

The queen looked at her wrist. She stared at it so hard and yet what she saw refused to change. The bracelet was somewhat delicate, complementary to the one she had given to Amaya, but different in design, the stones were earth prime stones, and she noticed the ones that represented the seal of Katolis. She could tell that Amaya had put thought into it. How to best match the one she gave her, how to not clash with what she usually wore, how to better show exactly who had gifted it to her.

“You asked Kazi?” Janai started to sign and speak at the same time. Her expression a bit far away as if lost in thought. “And then, you went on a two and a half weeks field trip just so you could…”

“ _Give you answer_.” Amaya answered with a proud and satisfied nod.

“A two and a half weeks field trip to give me an answer…” Janai did facepalm this time, but her shoulders were trembling with mirth. “You know… I know I still have a hard time signing at times, but I can understand you pretty well by now. I don’t know if this is very romantic or very silly. You even managed to get yourself in a fight against the remnants of a dark mage.” Janai chuckled again getting closer to her lover. “That’s to very you…”

" _I wanted you to believe it._ " They were almost in each other's embrace again. " _For you to believe it and for you to be able to flaunt it if you wish to._ "

"Amaya, this pretty much oficializes us as mates in the eyes of my people. Is that what you really want?"

At that the human backs off a little looking at her utterly confused. " _I told you Kazi explained it to me. I wouldn't have gone after it if I didn't truly meant it._ ” She swallowed feeling her throat constrict with emotion. At least she didn’t need it to express herself. “ _You don’t need to give me outs, I won’t take them. You’re the one with more at stake. You’re the one who should have outs, but I'm afraid I'm not selfless enough to actively offer them to you. I would understand…_ ”

And once again Janai grabbed her hands interrupting her. “You misunderstood me Amaya… I’m not… I’m not selfless enough to volunteer you an out either. I meant that we don’t need to do this publicly. I don’t need the acknowledgment of others for us to be mates.” She kissed the human’s hands adoringly. “But given my position and your position and also the fact that you’re human, this will be seen as an intent to… I mean, they will be expecting something from it for such a risk to be taken.”

Amaya had relaxed again the more Janai spoke. She wanted it… she wanted it even if it appeared to others as a… “ _Kazi told me this was a sign of courtship and commitment and not marriage proposal…_ ” She looked at her with a teasing smirk. “ _Not that I'd ever be able to deny you. I think I might have lost the ability to do so._ ”

“ _You deny me plenty, Amaya!_ ” Janai rolled her eyes signing. “I’m the one usually bending to your will. If there is someone who lost the ability to deny the other anything then that would be me.”

“ _So I’m bending you…_ ”

“Amaya!”

“ _It’s just too easy!_ ” The human laughs freely, not just the usual shake of shoulders but an actual sound, joyful and free and so rare. Janai loved the way Amaya sounded, she knew the woman was a bit self conscious about it, but she couldn’t be more thankful about how comfortable she had to be to trust that part of herself with her. The heaviness of their conversation all but gone, leaving just a warm feeling in its wake. “ _But really. You’re the only person I could ever see myself marrying one day. Not for your title or your affluence, you know that well, but… even when we were enemies and willing to kill each other you captivated me._ ” She looked deep into Janai’s eyes. Eyes that shone so bright that twinkled and said everything she was saying right back. “ _Be it to rile you up, to comfort and care, to fight beside or against… when I look ahead into the future, you’re right there. As sure as the Sun lights the day. My Radiance._ ”

“My one sure thing.” Janai agreed, resting their brows together. “But you really didn’t need to take **two and a half weeks** just to tell me that though!” She pinched at Amaya’s side, making the human squeal.

They spent almost twenty minutes, rolling on the ground like carefree teenagers, wrestling and tickling each other, just stopping when a kick almost sent the tray with the tea and snacks to the ground. They wheezed and chuckled in each other's embrace. The tea was cold by then, but Janai could easily reheat it later. Amaya finished pulling the elf on top of her and joined their mouths in a kiss. They lost themselves in the sensation and twenty other minutes had passed. 

They took their tea and snacks, Amaya showed the other things she had acquired during her trip, having stopped at Morah’s again on the way back. They tidied up and Janai let herself be dragged to the bed, a silent acceptance of spending the night together.

“ _We usually say girlfriend back in Katolis._ ” Amaya signs out of nowhere while they were getting comfortable in bed. “ _Mate is usually a slang for colleagues or close friends, depending on where you are. Or…_ ” Janai looked at her already expecting something outrageous. “ _The partner of an animal in the case of creatures that stay together for life._ ”

“ _We’re all part of nature, Amaya._ ” Janai chuckles. “But if it bothers you…”

“ _No! Far from it, I quite enjoy being like an animal with you…_ ” She wiggles her eyebrows in an exaggerated flirt.

Janai shook her head, poorly trying to hold back her amusement. “Just... shut up and _put your hands to better use, you silly human._ ”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next: Amaya attempts to acquire a pet. <3


	8. Not a simple hunt

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I would like to point out that Janai is almost always signing and speaking at the same time. If there is italics in the middle of speech its not for emphasis but a indication that it was solely signed and not spoken. Janai mix things a lot. She is not fluent yet and there are things made hard because of the lack of a fifth finger. Amaya has been also learning a bit of the sunfire sign language together with Janai to make things easier on that regard specially. So yeah they mix things a little bit.
> 
> This chapter took a different turn than I had planned. This keeps happening for some reason.
> 
> ALSO!!!
> 
> [This is a site that's basically an ASL dictionary! There is also some video lessons on it!](https://www.lifeprint.com/index.htm)

The last two miles they make on foot as to not startle the flock. They were, after all, one of Xadia most ferocious predators, right behind Dragons. And although they were rather smart beasts they weren't sapient like the other species. 

Their camp was in an elevated place so they could observe them better they also had used the local foliage to hide their things and disguise their scent. No need to alert the flock to their presence just yet.

The win-tailed inferno-tooth tiger was a lone hunter, but huddled together for leisure time and migration. The rising of cubs was a collective job, if more than one litter was born at the same time even the feeding was shared between the parents. You could also find exclusively mated pairs as well as more free spirited ones that sought more than one mate. 

This flock was particularly on the medium to large in size. They had two litters at the moment with a total of nine cubs, one mated pair, two unmated adult males, four teenagers, three female and one male, three unmated adult females and an older female, probably the matriarch of the flock. 

Compared to males the females had little difference in size, they just seemed a bit more slender. Their mane were thinner and they didn’t have the teal fur in it, their horns grew curving to the back of their head almost looking like a halo, it was a pale beige at the base while the tips had a bluish tint, their front claws just a bit longer than that of the male counterpart.

Janai had explained that females tended to be a bit more territorial of the place of rest of the flock. She also explained that the best age for taming would be that of a teenage Inferno-tooth, given that they were still young and more malleable, but also a little more friendly. 

“ _What now?_ ” Amaya asked taking her eyes away from the group of animals.

“Now, we choose one, observe their behavior, set the appropriate trap and lure them to it.” The elf queen explain. 

It’s been a while since Amaya had seen her in armor, even though it wasn’t her usual one from back when she was still the Golden Knight. This one looked a little bit lighter given that it didn’t have pauldrons on or the greaves, the boots were only mid calf and the baggy high waist pants was held by an armored girdle and tucked into the boots. She also wore a chest-plate and her shirt was mostly only visible due to its high collar and rolled up short sleeves. The arms were mostly bare if not for the golden bracers. Her usual cape and headpiece was also left home.

“ _Trap?_ ” Amaya frowned.

“ _Yes, we need to restrain it so we can approach and gain its trust, then you form a bond with it._ ” Janai explained while finishing the preparations of their camp.

She was so glad she had been able to ditch her personal guard. It wouldn’t do to hunt an Inferno-tooth with a large group they would feel threatened and flee or, most likely, attack them trying to defend their territory. She had also convinced her council and advisers to use it as a test for when she needed to leave Lux Aurea for diplomatic visits and the likes. She was a warrior queen, she wouldn’t leave her people to fight alone either. She would never run from her duty to her people, but the castle walls shouldn’t be a prison. So she left Kazi to represent her on the most simple matters for now. The interpreter and scholar has shown great competency after all. It didn't mean that the advisers or they had liked it, but it was only for three days. 

They really hadn’t been comfortable with the idea, but at her firm reassurance in her trust in them and Amaya’s puppy like encouragement they ended up accepting such responsibility. 

“ _How can you expect it to trust and bond with you after you trap and bind it!?_ ” The human asked disbelievingly. 

“Well, _you tell me, Amaya_. It has worked with you, haven't it?” Janai mocked pecking her cheek. The insinuation causing a small blush and an exasperated sigh. “ _Lets just choose one and we can start to plan our hunt._ ”

The mated pair were the parents of one of the litters and one of the unmated females the parent of the other. The male of the mated pair was more hands on on the caring of the cubs than the others, but all of them seemed to at least keep their eyes on them.

“With how young the cubs are the mothers must have come here to have them and later the flock followed.” Janai explained after getting the human’s attention.

Giving the time of the day and some of the still fresh carcasses around the clearing they had claimed as their territory, the hunt was done for the day. One of the unmated adult females cleaned the muzzle of the younger ones with broad licks while holding them down. The males were still picking bones and every now and then seemed to posture and challenge each other. The last adult female had taken some of the meat to their matriarch, an old creature with plenty of white in her otherwise tan fur, that rested under a shadow. 

The color variation between them was minimal, some had more tan and browns than beige, and some males had more teal in their fur. The feathers also had some variation. The female who took the food to the older one only had the teal coloring on her largest feathers at the brim of her wings, while the one cleaning the teens only had teal on the inside of her wings. 

The wind blew in their direction, sending their scent away from the flock, keeping them hidden in their little hideout. Janai pointed and talked about using the trees' covering as a place to put the traps, the vegetation not only making it harder to notice it, but also hampering any attempt to take off if their chosen tried to take flight. 

To establish a bond there would be a stare off. It wasn’t a guaranteed success and they would likely not be able to try with another one if they failed. The flock probably wouldn’t move given the newborns, but it would be hard to lure them individually and they would be much more aggressive and territorial.

The mated pair was a big no no, and so was the other mother. Adults were hard too, they were already established members of the flock, the teens were the best for they were more malleable and still open to leave the flock if they find a mate or feel a better connection to another one. Males were preferable too because they’re less territorial than the females, more likely to go solo and living a more nomadic life. 

Janai explained all that to Amaya, pointing out how livelly the young teen male looked, his mane had a lot of teal in it, horns well developed and still growing, wide powerful wings and very well mannered. 

But of course Amaya wouldn’t want an easy job. She gave the young thing one look and grimaced observing the others, after a minute or two she pointed at one. 

An adult female.

A very moody one.

Caring yes, giving how she treated the matriarch carrying food to her and helping cleaning her after. She also had grabbed one of the wandering cubs and placed them back with their mother. But that was it. She kept others at bay and kind of isolated herself, she had pawed and growled at two others that had tried to approach her. She had a nick on her right ear suggesting previous fights. 

When Janai tried to argue Amaya had just arched an eyebrow asking if she had chosen Dollan because he seemed an easy target. Giving how moody the animal usually was the human highly doubted.

“ _If I have one try to bond with them, I have to at least feel some affinity with them right?_ ” at Janai’s nod Amaya chuckled adding. “ _She also kinda reminds me of you._ ”

“ _And what exactly do you mean by that?_ ” the queen huffed indignantly.

“ _She is all imposing and gruff, but a sweetheart deep inside._ ” Amaya grinned nudging the elf with her shoulder. 

“I’m not... gruff.” She looked so much like years ago when she told Callum they weren’t friends. “ _Besides that’s very much you too._ ”

“ _What can I say, we’re two of a kind._ ” Amaya winked still grinning. “ _And my adorableness is much more at surface level, thank you very much._ ” And she gave her a peck on the tip of the nose for good measure.

Janai had been so surprised when Amaya first had done it. Especially because she usually did it when she was being playful or a little shit. Humans were way more free with their demonstrations of affection. They touched more and sometimes for no reason. They also had an easier time being carnal with people they were not involved with. Those little gestures were done in moments of reverence for the elves. A show of passion or admiration. Sure there was casual dating between elves, but usually within close friendships. And, sure she had heard of brothels, but was so shocked to learn they were real. And more shocked yet to discover that Amaya had gone to one. Once upon a time… Amaya had said. Back when she was starting as a soldier.

So Janai had shown it to her. She had held her face carefully in her hands, she had kissed her brow, her eyelids and her cheeks, slowly, lovingly. To the sweet harmony of Amaya’s sighs of satisfaction. She had trailed her mouth down her neck and traced her collarbones with the tip of her tongue. She had caressed her back holding her against her own body, she had latched on the curve of her neck and shoulder and sucked leaving a mark that had lasted days. She had…

Amaya is ‘kind’ enough to bring her back from her little trip back on memory lane. The human expression is one of amused confusion, probably not being aware of what kind of thoughts had flooded her mind. Surprisingly enough, given Amaya’s talent at sniffing less than chaste thinking.

“ _The fact that she is almost always alone makes it easier for us to lure her at least._ ” The human points out, bringing her back to their dilemma of the moment. “ _We need to choose where we will place the traps so…_ ” she gives a brief pause and inhales profoundly. “ _Are you horny?_ ” She fingerspells the last word knowing Janai hadn’t learned it yet.

“I do have horns, yes.” She frowns confused. 

“ _No._ ” Amaya quietly laughs. “ _I meant aroused._ ” She closes the gap between them and smells her again, fitting her nose right at the curve of Janai’s neck. “ _You are! Why?_ ”

Okay, so maybe she did notice... and apparently the sniffing part was more literal than Janai had thought at first.

“ _You can smell it on me!?_ ” The elf gasps completely taken back. Could she always tell? In every situation? All the time?

“ _Yes! It’s spicy. A bit of sweat and musk. If I’m close enough and there is no other strong odor like perfumes and incense…_ ” Amaya buries her face again on Janai’s neck. “Like… it…” She slightly struggled to say still against her, moist lips and hot breath dragging on her skin.

Janai shivered at the sound and vibration against her skin. They really should focus on what they came here to do… Her mind was still a bit foggy and Amaya’s slow ministrations really wasn’t helping her clear her mind. So she tapped the human on her shoulder blades indicating that she wanted her attention and pushed her away from her. They really needed to focus.

“I know it’s on me, but we really should…” She stammered a bit. So unbecoming for a queen to do so… 

Amaya’s glazed look clears quite fast. The human always could shake a mood so quickly that it almost gives her whiplash. “ _Yes. We get the kitty, go back home and_ **_then_ ** _we fuck_.” She nodded looking back at the flock with the face she usually made when she was plotting something. Be it war strategies or silly pranks.

Thankfully after that they can finally finish their plan. Janai was still a little against Amaya going after her chosen target, but she knew there was nothing she could say to change the generals opinion. She also wasn’t wrong in saying that she didn’t choose Dollan for him being an easy target. The animal had always been a moody fella, but he was strong and proud. That was what had caught Janai’s interest back then. They saw eye to eye and that was what had cemented their bond.

The trap is a simple one, a net, a few ropes and a tripwire, the objective being to restrain without hurting. From their advantage point they could see a good place to set the traps. The problem being that they had to get close enough to their territory so when luring the creature they couldn’t be out ran, but also far enough they wouldn’t attract too much attention from the rest of the flock. And Amaya had her eyes on an adult. She hoped the traps would hold and that the canopy of the trees were thick enough to impede a more proficient flyer to take off.

They wake up really early the next day, so they can get everything ready. Janai is the first to rise and has a little bit of difficulty untangling herself from Amaya’s arms. When she is finally able to, she starts on their breakfast using her heat-being mode to heat water for some tea and also make some toast because she knew Amaya liked her bread like that. One day she might understand human’s obsession with it. They seemed to like it so much that they had numerous types and ways of eating it.

It takes her a second to notice Amaya already up and watching her. She accepts her food and waits a second until Janai’s heat drops to a more human friendly level before kissing her on the cheek as thanks to finally start eating it.

After breakfast they start to prepare themselves, putting their armor and separating the material for the traps. Its then that Janai notices that Amaya takes out a leather pouch and begins to take leaves and little blossoms from it. She lays a square of thin cloth before her and starts to grind the leaves and flowers. She rubs the cloth with the kneaded herbs before rolling the cloth still with the mashed greenery inside it before tying it around her neck like a collar the most puffed part of the collar she tucks into her breastplate.

“ _What… is that?_ ” Janai asks after a pause when Amaya’s eyes are finally on her again.

“ _It’s a trick for kitties that Ezran and I figured out! A bit of catswort and silver-vine._ ” The human grins proudly.

“They’re not kittens, Amaya.” The elf deadpans. She really loved the woman but she also felt like she kept testing her.

“ _Dollan behaves pretty much like one…_ ” Is the response she gets, together with a shrug.

Janai just sighs, forfeiting any type of discussion wanting to move along as soon as possible so they can set the traps. Most of the flock is out hunting at this time, leaving only the mothers and the matriarch behind. They notice the older tiger giving baths to the cubs while the other two fed the rest of them and use that as an opportunity to prepare themselves. The rest of the flock would be back from their hunt, feed the ones that had to stay behind and finally retire to their own business. Some may nap after a good meal, some may clean themselves or play fight.

What mattered was that Amaya’s chosen would most likely isolate herself, with luck, to somewhere closer to where they were hidden than farther away, on the opposite side.

“Thank the Light…” Janai mumbles noticing the tiger moving closer to where they are before signaling Amaya. “ _We just need to get her attention without alerting the others now._ ”

She regrets her words almost immediately when the human just gives her a thumbs up with a nod of understanding before picking a rock near her and throwing it at the fucking Infero-Thoot Tiger’s head. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The whole hunt was supposed to end in this chapter, then we'd be back in Lux Aurea and one or two things would happen before Amaya left for Katolis. But... it din't happen, mostly because Janai got horny... but also because that last part really sounds like a chapter ending.
> 
> Next: Amaya gets pounced! Oh, noes! And... if the chapter doesn't run away from me again you will probably see Kaarin next chapter too.


	9. Not so subtle approach

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So there was a black out when I was about to post. all my edits had been lost. Lots of things happened. That was yesterday. So, the editing I did here was mostly done on my cell? So it might be really shitty, so sorry about that. 
> 
> I noticed some issue like while I corrected or added something it ended up eating ahead on the phrase. But I don't know if I noticed it from the first time it happened or not. If you see something like that. A phrase that makes so sense at all please to warn me. Thanks <3 
> 
> I'll re read and try to fix anything when I'm back home since I'm traveling now because of the Carnaval. (If I remember to.......)

They’re sprinting for their lives not two seconds after Amaya threw a fucking rock at the fucking beast’s head. If it had been a pebble maybe it wouldn’t be so bad, but no, it was a rock! A rock slightly bigger than her fist, and it wasn’t like Amaya’s hands were small to begin with. So yeah it was a sizable fucking rock. That Amaya threw. At the second most vicious predator in all of Xadia. In the... **fucking**... **_HEAD_**!

That woman would be the death of her. She would likely go happily and with a smile on her face, but she would die.

They run in parallel with Janai, in her lighter clothes, being able to stay a bit ahead, while Amaya with the loud clanging of her heavy armor ran on the path they had traced to the traps. She jumps the tripwire without slowing herself and the beast after her, falls right into it.

The trap is triggered and the net falls and closes on top of the winged beast. It slows her down enough for Amaya and Janai to gain some ground, but the animal was bigger and stronger than what they had expected and for what the traps were designed for. She roared and ripped into it and snapped the holds loose. She still had some of the net on top of her making flight almost impossible, but she could still run and she was **fast**.

Fast enough that, with the small pause Amaya had given when she noticed Janai's jerking movement at the sound of the ropes snapping, she was able to gain on her and pounce with clear intention. 

“Amaya!” Janai yells, furious despair bringing her into her heat-being mode.

The elf was right about to jump into the fray so she could rescue and save her mate when she notices the human signaling for her to wait.

Amaya had been thrown against the floor with a strong impact, hands and arms barely able to break her fall. Before she could do anything else, the claws of the creature had grabbed the edge of her trusted shield that was still attached to her back, and flipped her so she was facing the very pissed Inferno-Tooth Tiger.

It was a very odd scene, Janai had to admit, slowly letting her body cool down. The furious growls quickly turning into loud purrs all while the beast starts to rub her head and neck against the human’s chest. 

“A-ha!” Amaya gloats pointing at Janai, her voice almost a whisper, the beast awkwardly rolling at her side still partially wrapped in the net.

Amaya unbuckles her shield and sits up, rubbing the tiger’s neck and chin, when she goes to pull her hand the beast grabs it with a paw and pulls it back to her face and starts to lick her palm. Amaya notices her starting to nip her gloves so she uses her free hand to untie the cloth she had around her neck and toss it to the beast. The Tiger immediately turns it into a chew toy.

While she chewed at the rolled up cloth Amaya starts to untangle the net from the wings and horns of the creature, but before she can actually free it the Tiger rolls back on top of her pushing her back into the ground. She winces with the impact against her shield, but is soon giggling with the occasional licks she receives from the creature that was half laying on top of her. She notices Janai approach from the corner of her eye and gesticulate to her with one hand since the other one is still trapped by a claw against a fluffy head.

Janai stares at the scene trying to make sense of it. _I’m okay_ … Amaya signs, _five to fifteen minutes… Nose… Tired?_ Janai is unsure if she understood it wrong or if it was the limitation of signing with only one hand while a Inferno-Tooth Tiger used you as a playmat.

She is not completely risking it though, she nears them, but not too close, she lowers herself in a non threatening stance and stays ready in case she needs to defend Amaya or something. It’s around the seventh minute mark that the effect of the herb seems to start to fade. The usually proud and imposing Tiger is lethargic and drooling a bit. She stands with a slight sway, giving enough space so the human can sit up again, and steps back a bit planting her butt on the ground, carefully looking at them. It would probably be really scary and menacing if not for the drowsiness in her eyes and the drool running down her chin without even a show of teeth or growls.

Amaya takes her shield strapping it back on her back and moves to sit in seiza. The same way the Tiger looks at her, she looks at the Tiger. And for a hot minute Janai feels like she didn’t exist in the same plane as them.

Another minute passes and and with a more clear head the beast sighs almost as if resigned, she approaches Amaya and bumps their foreheads before laying down and looking at them as if she always had belonged there.

Amaya turns to her a little confused, she didn’t know how things were supposed to happen. “ _What now?_ ” 

“Honestly, Amaya, you talk about me trapping them, but you go and drug her into complacency…” Janai mocks playfully, making it clear in her facial expression and hand movements. 

“ _That’s not it!_ ” Amaya huffed crossing her arms.

Noticing the chastised demeanor of her new bondmate the Tiger nudged her knee with a front paw getting her attention and with a low purr she gives her very slow blink. Amaya remembered what Ezran had once told her when they were playing with the new kittens kept by the staff of the Banther Lodge a few years ago, before the assassinations attempts and the war it had started. Slow blinks were a show of trust, a warm welcome, a sign of affection… Amaya knew she had made a good choice. She answered the beast in the same way, body relaxed and a long and slow blink.

“I really don’t know what we should do now though…” Janai scratched her chin after Amaya turned to her again. “I mean, after you form the bond you usually start to get them used to the saddle, with throwing heavy blankets on their backs, after that you start tying it around them so they get used to the harnesses, and while doing it you start attuning them with your commands, but since you’re mostly no-verbal…” Janai frowned trying to come up with solutions. “With bonds strong enough it’s almost like you can read each other. _I’m sure you can accustom her with your signs and maybe some whistle commands. You could do well enough with Dollan on your own too…"_

Janai starts to approach them, Amaya still was in seiza, one hand on her knee and the other on the neck of her new companion. The beast immediately shows more awareness, the half lidded eyes she was giving Amaya completely gone. This causes a brief and respectful pause from Janai’s movements, but she starts approaching again always keeping her eyes linked with the winged beast. When she is besides Amaya she lowers herself and lovingly rubs her head against Amaya’s, much like cats do when showing affection to a mate or family.

With Amaya’s reciprocity the animal visually relaxes. She shimmies in their direction a little and stretches her neck until she is able to easily sniff Janai. She probably noticed that their scent is interwoven in each other, as she relaxes even more fully accepting her as not an enemy.

“We should finish taking down our camp and move back to where we left our mounts.” Janai mumbled. “We can fashion a halter if you think she isn’t likely to follow. We will also need to have my personal stable emptied, until we can be sure she won't cause trouble with the other animals she should have a space of her own, we can also try and introduce her to Dollan and see if they can be friendly.” 

Amaya nods getting up and the Tiger quickly copies her action. It was interesting and odd at how fast and easily Amaya could work her way around animals. She holds the face of the beast between her hands and gives a long stare, letting go she signs a few things that Janai doesn’t quite catch and soon enough the creature is turning their back on them getting a bit of distance and taking to the skies, easily finding a break through the dense canopy of the trees.

“ _She will find us later._ ” is all the explanation Amaya gives and Janai is way past questioning the way her human does things.

Sure, maybe... probably the beast shouldn't be able to understand sign language. Yes they were extremely smart, more than your average beast, but still. And a bond so strong so soon... It was exactly for reasons like that that Janai learned to stop questioning things. Especially if it involved Amaya somehow.

They were already on their horses and halfway back to Lux Aurea when the flapping of large wings could be heard above them. Janai looks up and easily recognizes Amaya bonded Inferno-Tooth. The deep teal color on the edge of her wings made her quite easy to identify. She doesn’t land next to them, rather she keeps accompanying them from the skies.

Their arrival at the West gates of the city is announced and soon they’re surrounded by the guards they had been able to leave behind when they left. The Tiger flying above them doesn’t like the strange commotion. Of course Amaya doesn’t hear the roar, but she notices the horses uneasy and the shadow of a predator getting closer and closer. 

She signals ordering for the guard to break so she can pass through, she gives a loud whistle, pointing at the flying creature diving in the direction of the soldiers surrounding them, and starts a gallop in the direction of the palace, aiming for Janai’s private stables. The creature is quick to follow, but her flight is too low for the comfort of the people they pass by. Her horse was also feeling a sense of urgency getting more agitated by the second.

Thankfully, they reach the palace soon. Amaya zooms without stopping or slowing down through the high arches of the castle’s grounds entering the covered low ceiling barn that housed the stalls for the horses and other mounts of the palace's officials and visitors, causing workers and nobles alike to jump out of her way. Ignoring any indignant shout or curse thrown her way, she keeps going on through the back pen, where they exercised and cleaned the palace’s mounts, and ahead… 

As soon as she was visible again the flying Tiger following her gave another roar, it’s deep vibrations resonating in Amaya’s chest… She jumped over the fence marking the perimeter of the palace’s common stables and cuts through the back gardens startling even more people. She couldn’t hear, but their surprised screams turned to terror when noticing the chasing beast. 

Going under another covered archways she finally reaches the royal stables, a place where the personal mounts of the royal family were kept, it was separated of the rest of the palace by high living fences and it had a hidden getaway exit as well as the official one through where one would leave when the need for discretion was not a must.

Amaya got there through one of the access you would use when dismounted, the loud noises of her mare’s shoed hooves hitting the paved ground with loud noises, startling anyone nearby.

When finally reaching the open area of the royal stable, she whistled again, loud and clear pointing to the ground a few feet away from her. Her Tiger landed with a heavy thud and without much finesse, her demeanor as anxious as of the mare, who kept trying to rear.

The Inferno-Tooth Tiger started to stalk around the open space as if ready to pounce at anything. Amaya quickly dismounted holding tight on the reins of her mare quickly starting to calm her, petting her muzzle and neck. When her breathing finally starts to slow down she turns to the other anxious creature, who kept circling them, walking back and forth.

By the time Janai finds them she had already been able to calm her down. “Have you chosen a name?” She approaches the two of them, giving a peck on Amaya’s cheek and scratching the Inferno-Tooth’s chin with familiarity.

If there was something she learned with Amaya was to take advantage of the trust placed on you. With respect, obviously. It often showed that you trusted them just as much.

Amaya nods, spelling it. “ _I can’t ask her real name like Ezran would be able to._ ”

“Saya is a nice name. I’m sure she likes it.” At Janai’s word, the beast lets out a deep and pleased rumble. “See? We should try and accustom her with the stable, though. We didn’t have the time to clear it first, what about we try to introduce everyone? Also, you have a visitor. A mage looking for you. All the way from Green Hill... that's where you went to?”

“ _K. A. A. R. I. N?_ ” Amaya asks, after nodding to Janai's question, in surprise. 

“So you do know her… She went after you at Unity’s offices first, the day we left for our hunt. They sent her to the palace and she was given a room so she could wait for our return if she wished. I sent a pageboy with a message for her to meet us for the evening tea. Is that okay?” At Amaya’s nod, Janai sighs leaning her head against the slightly shorter human’s. “ _I was hoping for a moment alone for us._ ” She signs not willing to move just yet. 

They had had a small lunch on their way back so most of their afternoon is spent trying to acclimate Saya to the stables. Janai had called for Dollan so the two Inferno-Tooth Tigers could meet. Their interaction was interesting. Dollan was curious, it was his first time being so close to another Inferno-Tooth since Janai had bonded with him six years ago. None of the nobles or high ranking military present in the city had a bonded beast. Many didn’t bother to go through the work of hunting, bonding and training one given the possibility of the beast turning against their rider at the first sign of corruption, no matter how many years together they might have had. That’s why having one or being able to handle them carried such a status.

The stable-hands in charge of caring for Lux Aurea’s royal stables were the best paid in all Xadia for they had to have a pure heart. It was one of the only positions that required one to pass the trial of light to be able take it.

So Dollan was indeed very curious. The first one he was seeing in such a long time and it was a female one at that. Bonded to the beloved of his bonded! 

He approached and she immediately swatted at his face. He sneezed at the light brush of her front claw, making him take a step back. He walked around giving her a wide berth, but not taking his eyes from her. When approaching again he first affectionately head-butted Janai, but when trying to approach Amaya, Saya quickly hugged the human against her shielding her with one of her wings and swatting at Dollan again.

He growled in frustration and she roared in answer. Janai could hear hers and Amaya’s horses and also the beasts of burden used to pull the royal coach, Khessa's preferred means of transportation, anxious with all the commotion.

Amaya freed herself delicately patting at Saya’s neck. She made motions trying to calm both of them with the assistance of Janai and carefully the two of them encouraged the beasts to greet each other. Dollan was way more interested in that, while Saya reluctantly let him sniff at her.

By the time they would have to leave to get ready for their meeting with Kaarin, the two of them were slightly friendlier. Saya had tried to hit him a bunch of times still and he also had swinged at her at some point. They had growled and postured circling each other, but no fight had broken out. 

“ _They’re just like us when we first met!_ ” Was Amaya’s very unworried and very satisfied commentary. 

“I just really hope they don’t try to kill each other at this point.” Was Janai’s resigned answer.

Still, she couldn't hide her adoring smile from the other woman.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next: Kaarin will be there I guess, given that she was supposed to have appeared on this chapter... But nooo the little beasts just decided to hoard this one for themselves.
> 
> Also, I've been questioning myself about smut on this fic. I've alluded to it and I won't put it where or in a way it would clog or interfere with the plot and it's development, but you guys like the idea of an actually written out smut scene or just the allusion to it like it has been? I'll leave this one to you guys choice.


	10. Not an unfamiliar face

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I went back a bit on previous chapters... I was trying to make a timeline to better organize myself. Man so many mistakes... fixed some. I'll re-read again soon and fix whatever need to be fixed. amazing how mane crazy obvious shit you get to miss. People getting beta-readers really know what they're doing ha! In my defense english is not my first language and I usually edit it while posting and I usually post it very late into the night. (it's 2am right know btw)
> 
> I'm also trying to get a better idea of what I want to show in this fic, how, when and also where to end it eventually. Just so you know. Two things that popped into my mind made me itch to write this fic and up until now only one of then happened.
> 
> There is a lot to happen yet, but I also finally kinda know where I want to end this. And am already being tormented by the idea of another one. oh, well...

They had changed out of their armor and travel clothes to meet Kaarin. Amaya went ahead, with Kazi at her heels, while Janai dealt with a small issue brought up by one of her advisers, she would find them as soon as she could shake the old elf away. 

He came from a long lineage of selected advisers. His father had served her grandmother and he has been serving since the time that her mother was Queen. Khessa had kept him out of respect and Janai for lack of time to adjust all of her court yet. She had started with the palace’s staff and lesser officials just two months ago and was slowly going up on the hierarchy of positions. Not everyone was happy with some of the changes she was making. Especially this particular adviser who kept trying to make himself appear as essential as possible or simply kept criticizing her every decision. 

But Amaya needn’t worry about that, Janai had developed quite the method to get him out of her hair, and so she focused on her meeting with Kaaring.

The Startouched elf was waiting for them in a beautifully adorned Tea-Room. The place was often used for soirees focusing on poetry and music. These parties often entertained minor nobles of lesser political standing or the extended families of these more active in the government. Gossip, intrigues and whispers of conspiracies flowed freely from lips loosened by the alcohol, high spirits and maybe even something more. Janai was thankful to have heeded Aanya and Amaya’s advice in permitting the events and also in keeping trusted and sober ears present during such occurrences.

Kaarin was sitting near a balcony. A pair of armchairs facing a loveseat with a low table between them. On the table tea and some sunfire treats were served for them. The mage looked distractedly out of the window at the oranges and pinks of the sunset, as if sensing the approaching shine of the stars.

“We are sorry for the wait, master Kaarin.” Kazi translates catching the other elf attention and bowing deeper than the slight bent of the head that Amaya gives the other woman.

“Oh! I’m sure both of you are quite busy so don’t worry.” She chuckles, after bowing to them herself, giving the impression that the stardust-like freckles in her face shimmered in the light of the setting sun. “I was quite surprised when I was sent to the castle and given a room here to wait for the General, though. I knew your forces had the support and approval of the Sunfire crown, but for they also give you accommodations in the palace...”

Amaya and Kazi share a knowing look. They almost forgot they never really told the mage who the bracelet was for, just that it was an answer to the one Amaya had received, and given the color and the arcanum of the stones one would at least assume her lover was a Sunfire, but not who exactly that person was.

Amaya gestured for all of them to sit, Kaarin and Kazi each on one armchair and her on the loveseat, before starting to sign, her hands movements being accompanied by Kazi’s soft voice. 

“I fought alongside the sunfire army against the forces of the Dark Mage, a mage that once belonged to the court of my homeland, and forces that once heeded my orders. The mage manipulated their minds and corrupted their souls and bodies. My nephews were the one who saved and brought back the Dragon Prince to his mother. Before the Dragon Queen Zubeia, Queen Janai and I stood as equals together with the crown of Katolis and Duren and many brave men and women, humans and elves alike.” The expression on Amaya’s face was one of pride. 

She was about to say more when movement on the corner of her eyes caught her attention.

Janai strode in with confidence, without waiting for being announced as was the tradition. She walked until she stood next to Amaya, all of them had stood up at the entrance of the Queen, she took the human’s hand in hers and smiled at the mage.

“It’s an honor to have one such as you as a guest, mage.” Janai nodded her head in respect. “Also, she forgot to mention that she saved my life twice even before we could be called allies, then she helped not only with the evacuation of the city, but also joined my men at the shield lines during the battle. During the hunt for the dark mage she saved not only my life once again, but that of my brother too..." She gave a brief pouse at the other elf's interested face before adding: "She is also my intended.”

The usual placid expression on Kaarin’s face morphed into one of shocked surprise. Her eyes flicker to both women’s wrist and back to their faces. She knew that the general had likely mated with a sunfire elf, and due to her high rank and political position, of course she’d have an official translator to accompany her. But for her mate to be the Sunfire Queen herself. That really caught her by surprise.

“Please, Your Radiance, the honor is all mine. To be in the presence of such revolutionary royalty. One with the courage to do what hasn't been done in a thousand years…” the mage gives a deep bow, her robes flowing with ease and glittering in what was left of the sunlight.

Noticing the darkening of the room the guard at the door lowly murmurs the word for light while touching a plaque at his side and sparse glass like globes through the room start to glow giving the room a soft illumination.

“I thank you for your praise, but in truth I was merely following the example set by the rulers of Katolis and Duren.” Janai chuckled, finally sitting next to Amaya and gesturing for the others to do the same. “One is very wise in the ways of kindness and the other wise in the understanding of the world and its politics. Both children if you believe me. And yet I learn more from them at each letter we exchange than from my meetings with my advisers any other day.” Amaya gives a hearty chuckle at that. She knew how much Janai wanted to dismiss her current advisers and nominate new ones, but such moves needed to be done with caution. “But you came here after Amaya, correct?”

The curious expression on Kaarin’s face fades a bit and she clears her throat a little before taking on a more serious posture. “Yes, indeed. If it was merely a question a message should suffice, but… The event on the day you left caused quite the stir in Green Hill. The whole village heard about it through town criers and apparently rumors spread far beyond there too, as you know we’re a village of passage to others settlements around the desert. All it was known was that foul magic was involved somehow and after weakening your enemy with great swordsmanship you expelled the creature with a great light, like the ones of a sunfire mage or a sunfire in their light-being mode, leaving only dust behind. Apparently some knew your involvement with this peacekeeping order of yours and great interest started to arise on it.” The mage gives a brief pause at the small fist pump the human does when she says that, wondering the meaning of the gesture, but at the amused look from both the interpreter and the Queen it probably meant something good. Or silly at least. “I came specifically because… the only prime stones you had with you were the one on your bracelet right? Are you also a practicing prime stone mage?”

At that Amaya frowns. She delicately lets go of the queen’s hand giving a light squeeze on the elf’s shoulder before signing.

“I have no practice with magic. Janai gave me this bracelet just two weeks ago. That was pretty much the first time I used it.” Kazi voiced Amaya’s words.

“If Your Radiance and you, general, don’t mind… mind if I inspect the primal stones in your bracelet? The way it was told to me and taking in consideration that it eliminated a creature of dark magic, it was no small feat that you pulled, General.” Kaarin rested both her hands on her lap, eyes slightly downcasted. 

The look exchanged between the two lovers pretty much indicated that they’d be fine with whatever the other decided, but Amaya refused to consent until Janai gave her an exasperated nod gesturing with her hand for her to go ahead and show it to the startouched elf.

“I don’t think I recognize the maker…” Kaarin mumbles to herself. “It’s very well made, a work of incredible quality. Whoever made it was able to shape diamonds to perfectly round jewels and make it store plenty of the sun primal energy. You see it's easier to store primal energy on hollow vessels, like glass or crystal globes, but they’re way more frail that way. Using actual gems and minerals, solid ones you can store much more energy in it and it will also be more resistant. Diamonds are one of the materials that suffered the largest amount of pressure to form, so it’s like a lot of things occupying a very small space. And a well done primal stone jewel the arcanum will sap into the whole body. I use very hardy stones but I was never able to successfully completely enchant a diamond, much less shape it to my will.” She lets go of Amaya wrist after inspecting it. “Yours are discolored rubies, by the way, Your Radiance. I could have left the gems’ color, but didn’t want it to interfere with the primal energy natural shine.” 

“They’re stronger than usual primal stones? Is what you’re meaning?” Asks Amaya with a frown, and already having moved back to her place beside Janai, their hands joining as soon as they were on reach on one another.

These two years and the constant meetings between Kazi and Gren had done wonders to the elf’s interpretation ability. They’d stammer less, use more of Amaya’s own inflections and tone and they’d call their Queen by her given name, even though the mere thought of it to them was extremely appalling. But they’d sin the same way Gren often would, in attenuating most of the General’s usual very colorful vocabulary. The woman was surprisingly foul mouthed. 

“It has more energy, so can carry simple spells for longer and a gifted mage would be able to do more complex magic but still no big ones... If you don’t mind me asking General, you do your spells non vocally right? By associating the word to its meaning, as in you know the draconic rune for light and you attributed it to a visual representation, let’s say, correct?” At the human’s nod the mage copied the gesture, finally feeling like she was getting somewhere. “What did you associate with the word **_light_ **?” The last word she said in draconic causing a short flare to the room’s lights.

“I thought and focused on the Trial of Light. About the blindness it left me afterwards… it wasn’t dark, but as if I had been constantly looking at the sun, consumed by it even, swallowed whole. It was white and bright and hot. It brought tears to my eyes both out of fear that I would lose my only means of communication, but also because that’s what happens when you look at the sun for too long.”

Amaya’s casual way of answering seem to put all of the elves in the room in shock. 

“The Trial of Light?” It’s actually Janai that voices the question.

“Yes. I remembered what you said about the Trial showing the truth, and how the Light was also used in the purification process.” Kazi was so distracted that they almost forgot to translate. “And I thought. It was a shadow in a way. And what sends shadows away is light, right?” Amaya shrugged.

“You’re something else, General.” Kaarin sighed with a warm smile. “The Sun might have been more generous with you than simply approving. I’d like to accept your offer, General, if it’s still standing. I’d also like to explore this whole thing a bit more with you, preferably with the assistance of a sunfire mage, if you wouldn’t mind.” she stands to bow to both women once again “With your permission, Your Radiance, obviously…”

“In a situation such as this it’s more up to Amaya than to me in the end…” Amaya gives a side smile at Janai’s words.

They don’t stay much longer after that. Kaarin will leave for Green Hill the next day so she can set her affairs in order. If she really wants to set time apart so she can better study what allowed Amaya to summon the Light from a simple gem primal stone, no matter how well crafted it was, she will need to stay closer by. Kazi also goes back to their affairs, right after begging Janai no never leave them in charge in her place again. They also apologize for their forwardness and lack of formality before bolting from the Tea-Room, ears burning in embarrassment and blaming Amaya for their brazenness.

“Come to my room tonight, Amaya. Spend the night with me.” Janai asks when they are finally left alone, the guard on the outside of the room rather than on the inside as he had been until then. 

The general looks adoringly at the other woman, her face was relaxed and serene. A content smile adorned her lips, her eyes twinkled in the low light of the room, the golden markings that framed them also seemed to shimmer with it.

“ _Of course._ ” Amaya signs one handed, so she can keep holding onto Janai for longer. “ _But why so formal?_ ”

“There are still some things I wish to share with you.” The queen answers, stepping closer to her human. "Some other things Queen Aanya mentioned in her letter… And also about traditions and more personal costumes my people have.”

“ _I’ll be delighted, my Radiance._ ” Amaya struggles to sign so close together with the other woman, but also refuses to put any kind of space between them. “ _I’ll just see if Saya is truly settled for the night, get ready and go to your chambers._ ”

“Just grab whatever you may need and meet me there after you’re done with her, we will bathe together.” Janai reverently kisses the corner of Amaya’s mouth. “Moving all your things to my rooms now would be too much too soon, but I'm sure we can have some of your belongings there… _You know, just to make things easier._ ”

“ _To make things easier, uh?_ ” The smile on Amaya’s lips is downright decadent.

“Yes… just so.” Janai rolls her eyes with an affectionate chuckle.

She has just a second to hope that Amaya will never change before she is pulled in a deep kiss by the other woman.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so... Next: Saya might be being a dick and... who know what might happen with two grown women who love each other left alone after a long day?
> 
> Ps: The chapter will either be really big or i'm just being mean and teasing you guys and it will get cut in two...


	11. Not a bad romance

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I struggled a lot with the ~~smut~~. So it isn't here reeeeally at all sorry. It's kinda steamier than other chapters in a way, tho. That's one of the reasons it took so long. I wasn't knowing how to put it in. Maybe it will happen, maybe it won't, if it does it will when it comes more naturally to me. I feel comfortable with the more heated moments that are actually in here, but really wasn't when trying to bring it into an actual smut scene, is what I mean. I feel like I probably will have disappointed both these who wanted it and these who didn't want it in the end. But... ANYWAY. There is a bit of my own extended lore and world building in this chapter. Especially regarding Evenere of all places look at that. It's also the longest chapter in this fic so far. "Wow" (said in monotone)
> 
> Happy reading!  
> Or you know... not.

It takes longer than expected for Amaya to finally make her way to Janai’s chambers. She gives her usual knock before going into the royal apartments. 

The place was enormous. Much bigger than even Katolis’ royal quarters. Like Amaya’s there was a leisure room and a full functional kitchen, but much larger, the entryway had places for potential visitors to leave their shoes and heavy outer layers. The floor was covered by a crimson carpet and the high ceilings of the common room held two crystal chandeliers. It also had a fireplace in between floor to ceiling windows that opened into a large private balcony that overlooked the palace's inner gardens. The apartment also had a personal office, a visitor’s washing room, separated rooms for the consort and regent, sharing the same full functional bathroom and a smaller room that usually worked as a nursery when there was a newborn to actually put it to use.

Well, the same could be said about the consort room. In all the years Khessa reigned both had always remained locked. And if Janai was to be honest they remained that way. Especially since Amaya, when she had spent the night previously, never used the other room, finding joy in sharing the bed with the elf.

And the human in her hurry to put down her rucksack so she could get out of her boots and into softly padded slippers doesn’t notice the rightly amused elf observing her.

Amaya was in a certain state of disarray. Her clothing was surprisingly ragged with dirt patches on the elbows, legs, knees and bottom, almost as if she had fallen and rolled into the ground. Her hair was a bit of a mess going every other way. And she also had some hay and… two feathers? stuck to her. Her bag seemed to have been haphazardly put together, clearly made in a hurry, and her breathing was also rather shallow.

“Is everything okay?” Janai asks when Amaya finally looks up.

But another problem entirely seems to occur the moment the human lays her eyes on her lover. Janai is beautiful, always had been, in the heat of battle or in moments of calm, when angry or happy… even when in mourning, the elf had always been beautiful. But right at that moment… right then that beauty felt almost ethereal. Like a goddess gracing her presence. 

She wore a silky and almost see-through golden robe that was loosely tied closed, leaving a rather generous cleavage, with her perfect four toed feet bare and her hair, usually braided in cornrows, was free and framed her with its full volume. Stripped of any jewelry with the exception of the bracelet Amaya had gifted her.

Beautiful didn’t even come close to describing the vision that was Janai in Amaya’s heart and mind.

“ _Sorry, what?_ ” The human asks, finally shaking herself awake.

“I asked if everything’s fine…” Janai repeats, signing more slowly this time to make sure she had done it correctly.

“ _Oh… well Saya wasn’t exactly settled for the night._ ” The human shrugged, still without approaching.

For the first time the brazen woman seemed almost unsure of getting closer to her. It was the most unusual sight if nothing else. And when Janai made a movement in her direction she even startled, unconsciously raising her hands as if asking for her to halt.

“What is it, Amaya?” Janai frowns a little lost, and starts to wonder if she should feel offended.

“ _Sorry._ ” She apologizes again, a blush, more fitting of her older nephew than her, coloring her cheeks. She steps into the room without picking up her bag and getting closer to Janai. “ _You left me so completely mesmerized that my thought process got into complete disarray._ ” She grins, most of her usual confidence coming back. 

This time, it was the elf’s cheeks that redden, but that was also a much more common sight during their interactions. “What… what about Saya, you were saying?” she says in a mumble, fighting the urge to look away to ride her embarrassment.

“ _She pretty much stole Dollan space and things… wouldn’t let the stable hand near her, nor Dollan into the stall. We moved the chariot beasts and the horses further away, but Dollan also wouldn’t accept another stall or maybe he just wanted to stay close to Saya?... I’m not sure. When I tried to convince her to at least let Dollan have his blanket she pretty much pulled me and tried to… I don’t know? Put me to sleep or nest me? She complained a lot when I finally convinced her to let me leave, and we weren’t able to close the stable doors. So I wouldn't be surprised if we wake up to her on your balcony or even inside your chambers if she finds a way to open the door._ ” Amaya ranted very quickly, almost losing Janai in a few parts. “ _I wouldn’t be surprised if you need to hire a new stablehand._ ” She finally finishes with a shrug. 

“Well it’s her first night here… I can get Dollan another blanket too. It’s not a cold night so don’t worry.” The elf chuckles picking some of the hay off the human. 

And also the feathers… they were almost a foot in length, very soft and light colored, probably from the inner side of Saya’s wings or left overs from Dollan in the hay bedding.

Amaya takes the time that Janai uses to pick her clean to admire her once again. Her hair seemed to be slightly losing its volume and also curling up a little. It probably was without its usual form and so overly voluminous due to the long time it had spent in cornrows. It even made her horns seem a bit shorter than they actually were.

“Let’s bathe together, Amaya, and we will start our night.” she rewarded the human, who softly gazed at her, with a lingering, but sadly caste kiss on the lips.

It still made her body tremble, her heart race and all the air leave her lungs. Had she been a woman of fainter heart, Amaya might have worried if she would be able to survive this night.

“Bring your bag. I’m assuming these are things you plan to leave here…” At Amaya’s nod and easy obedience she goes ahead, opening doors and guiding their way. 

The main bedroom alone was almost as large as Amaya's entire quarters. The large bed had a tall canopy with light curtains that were tied to the bedposts. At it's foot, there was a long trunk with a padded lid so it could be used as a sitting place.

Amaya casually threw her rucksack there, leaving it to be dealt with later.

The floor in the room was also carpeted, much like the majority of the royal’s apartments, but rugs still adorned the floor of the room. Due to its large size the room had plenty of empty space, but it still possessed other comforts. Such as the corner of high mirrors where the queen could inspect her outfit and appearance from many angles, that stood near her wardrobe and closet. A very well equipped vanity where Janai’s everyday diadem rested at the moment. And on the other side of the room a cozy couch near the tall windows overlooked the view.

The room was directly connected to the consort’s room and both of them had access to the full functional bathroom. The bathroom in itself was almost like a private spa. There was a private corner where one could go about their business, and a large stone basin rested against the wall that gave it its privacy. It had a stone slab with a thin mattress on top of it, where she could lay to receive messages or to just rest while putting the room in sauna mode. Not that the heated pool at its center didn’t already keep the bathroom covered in a constant thin mist, but the temperature could always go higher if needed. And a little to the side from the pool there was a small washing station where you could clean yourself and your hair from the dust and grim from the day, before soaking yourself in the large bath. 

Amaya quite liked the way the Sunfire elves cleaned themselves, it reminded her of the costumes of her birthplace. She remembered being quite shocked when first moving out and learning that people mostly used a large wooden basin where they completely washed and bathed themselves without even a change of water, sometimes even through the bath of more than one person. As years passed and she and Sarai were introduced to Katolis nobility they got back a bit of their old costume, but never as close as when she first used a Sunfire bathhouse.

Janai had been surprised and also oddly smug to have unknowingly given Amaya something back, when the human commented about that to her.

Near the heated pool tall shelves contained many bathing oils, essences and infusions to be added to the water, some had a variety of purposes other than simply perfuming your skin. From healing to simply relaxing the body and getting rid of fatigue, it was indeed a really impressive collection. 

“We will wash our bodies as usual, clean our hair and skin. However, you may notice I took off my horn rings…” Janai says when noticing she had Amaya’s attention.

“ _Do you taking off your cornrows has something to do with that?_ ” the human tilts her head. 

“Uh? Oh!” Janai chuckles closing in on Amaya and starting to unfasten her gambeson “That was just a coincidence… it was starting to fray out a little and needed to be redone. By morrow a hairdresser will come to do so if you wish to watch.”

Having kept her hands busy Janai had made sure that Amaya could see her lips well, but her attention was, ultimately, on the clasps of her uniform and thus almost missing the curious look the human was giving her.

“It’s very time consuming, but I’ve grown used to it, and I like keeping my hair long, it makes it easier to deal with it during battle.” Her smile is soft while she moves from the gambeson to the belt and pants fastenings, and soon accompanied by a playful eyes roll at Amaya’s suggestive smirk when she first starts to tug on the cords of her trousers. “Any-way… are you aware of how a elf’s horn works? Of what it is made of?” 

“ _Bone? And to look impressive?_ ” The human answers looking slightly guilty, as if it was supposed to be something she was an expert on.

“Yes and no.” Janai laughs, again with the adoring peck at the corner of her lips. “Depends on the arcanum. Earthblood have antlers, much like cervids found on your human territories. They’re made of bone and they shed them and regrow them from time to time. Moonshadow are kind of wood like in looks right? They’re keratin protrusions, but much more dense than what we have in our nails and they do seem to root on their skulls. Skywing and Sunfire have similar types of horns, like your cows. It’s a bony core with a keratin cover over it and it grows directly from our skulls. You can feel the bumps from where they will grow out from birth. But on Skywings the bony core stops shorter while the keratin sheath keeps on growing filled with something similar to cartilage. As I understand it, it’s so they’re lighter for flight. Us sunfire have the bone core to the end and the keratin is a bit thinner. Tidebound have rather porous horns, it feels like, but doesn't look like corals, you know? And I’m not so sure about Startouched, but probably similar to us sunfire and skywing too.”

Given how much she had to say she stood back so she could sign too and Amaya didn’t need to rely entirely on lip reading, no matter how incredible she was at it. And Amaya pays attention and nods in all the right places. She also takes the opportunity to shed most of her clothes leaving herself in only her underpants and a tight and thin underblouse. Her gambeson was well shaped enough that she could often forgo the chest bindings.

Amaya was more built than Janai, sturdier… Her shoulders were broader and muscle more defined. Janai was barely more agile than her and without her heat-being mode she was definitely weaker in brute force, not too large a discrepancy, but definitely weaker. They were very well matched in fighting ability and Janai’s most common misgiving that would often leave her on the dirt when she and Amaya sparred was her impatience and quickness to rile up. Amaya was not afraid or ashamed of a retreat. She often did it, planned fights they had, when still on opposite sides, around it. But the Sunfire are prideful, and retreating was the same as losing, and ironically she often did lose to Amaya exactly for refusing to do so.

Janai knew Amaya’s body very well. Visually, in a fight, how it moved and how it stayed still. She knew it intimately. The heat, the smell, the rhythm… Yet she couldn't tire herself of the sight of her. Even now standing before her with a thin gray undershirt and black underpants, with a bit of dirt on her face, hair a mess and still some straws clung on it. Feral, a wild beauty with eyes full of heat. So much heat that Janai often wondered how things didn’t catch on fire around her, how it was possible that she didn’t have fire in her veins like her.

She bit her lip containing a small impatient moan. They had time, and a lot to do and talk about yet before moving this night along. “Every type of horn requires a different form of care. As children we’re taught and helped by our parents and elders. As we grow we’re expected to care for ourselves. As mated adults… It's seen as an act of intimacy and trust to care for each other’s.” Janai pauses, this time the lip bite, a show of insecurity. “It’s in no way an obligation. There are plenty of happy couples who don't share the habit, but... you did always seem a bit fascinated by them.”

Amaya touches her chin with her fingers, stopping Janai from looking away in embarrassment. When she notices no resistance or further attempts of turning away she cradles her head with both hands, her fingers cording through her hair in a novelty way. The shared look is fierce and heated and just as quickly Amaya pulls her down to meet their lips in a deep kiss. Janai molds herself against Amaya’s warm body, her robe’s tie getting looser by the second. The elf’s hands grasping at the cloth of the human’s undershirt with such strength that she threatened to rip it off her.

“ _I would love to learn and do this with you._ ” Amaya signs still panting from the kiss when they finally let go from one another, her shirt hardly still functional. “ _As soon as my ability to think comes back to me, if I’m to remember any kind of similar tradition between humans I’ll share it with you_.”

“ _I’d love that_.” the queen signs back with a breathy smile. 

They let go of the little that’s left over of their garments. Amaya’s things were put aside while Janai graciously let her robe fall from her body. She caught it at the last second as it passed by her hands and hung it on it’s place next to another one already there for Amaya to use. 

Janai was slender than Amaya, barely taller, her chest was fuller, but well hidden by her usual garments, well defined, but a bit more soft looking than the human, of whom she held the attention easily.

They washed themselves and helped each other with their hairs and backs, surprisingly with minimum distraction on the way. Amaya had always been amused by the amount of hygiene products that the elves had. There were lotions to wash the body, and oils and creams to massage in your skin both before and after the bath. There were washing oils for the hair and also creams that would leave them fluffy and silky like nothing else, it reminded Amaya of the old lotus tea oil her mother would rub on hers and Sarai’s hairs before every festivity when they were little. 

The elves even had potions that could change the type of your hair, made of special magical plants found around Xadia. Like one made of a plant called sleeping-grass that would straighten and take away the volume of one’s hair. “Khessa frequently treated her hair with it.” Janai had told her when first introducing her to the products. “I don’t like it. It’s foul smelling while applying it and you have to stay with it on your head under hot blankets for a long period of time. The longer you have it the more straight it will get. She didn’t take away her hair's natural waves though, just some of its volume. As kids her bed hair had been legendary…” her chuckle had been pained, but healing all the same.

And under one Queen Aanya’s off-handed comment, during her stay with the Sunfire on their way back from their victory at the Storm Spire, hair and beauty products had become Lux Aurea’s leading exportation goods.

Soon after washing their bodies they entered the heated bath. Janai with her hair being held up by a tightly wound towel and Amaya had it loose given how short it was. On her first time bathing there, Amaya had felt like a cooked bum, she had lasted barely over a minute, getting out with her skin an angry red as if she had been under the harshest sun for three days straight without a pause. Janai had asked her if she wished for her to turn down the heat, but Amaya refused just grabbing the thin mattress from the stone slab and putting it alongside next to the pool and laying on it with a heaving chest. She had grabbed Janai’s hand over her shoulder and just stayed there, while the elf soaked in the overheated water without letting go.

It was the first time Janai felt that what they had wasn’t something fleeting, right there holding that human’s hand. It was also the first time they made love. Right there by the bath side on top of a small and thin mattress.

These days, if the water is any colder than this Amaya ends up feeling almost uncomfortably cold. Not that anyone would ever catch her complaining.

They chose together the bath salts to pour into the water, something fragrant and that would help to take away the last few days fatigue. The bath was semicircle in shape, the straight part being against a wall while the curved one was open to the room, it was deep enough to cover Janai up to her shoulders. And although Amaya was unsure of where the faucet or the drain for the bath was, she knew it was regularly drained to be cleaned and then refilled. The same was done to the bathroom in her private rooms, even though it was way more modest than this one. 

They sat next to each other, slightly turned so they could better communicate. “I forgot to mention before, with everything else… But queen Aanya mentioned that Evenere has shown interest in joining the alliance, which will be discussed at the Summit, but she thought I should already be aware of that so I can better inform myself. She also suggested that you would be the best option to tell me more about it, since you frequently traveled there…” The question was pretty obvious on the arch of her eyebrow.

“ _They finally chose a monarch then? The previous queen wasn’t married and had no heirs, be it siblings or children, But she had plenty of cousins… Aanya didn’t care to mention who took the crown, did she?_ ” Amaya’s look was one of consideration, she seemed to be pondering many possibilities at the same time.

“No she didn’t, just that she assumed the lack of experience of the new monarch might mean the need for help to better establish themselves. And I’m surprised I wasn't aware of that. I thought they had already established a new crown way back.”

“ _Fareeda first adviser assumed as regent, but with so many cousins and no clear hierarchy for succession many nobles were choosing favorites to endorse and making claims to the throne. I’ve been told that the royal bloodline has thinned greatly since Fareeda’s assassination. Evenere is very reclusive; they don’t share much about their internal affairs, although part of the pentarchy they mostly kept to themselves._ ”

Janai frowned at that. She had assumed herself well informed about The Human Kingdoms, be it due to friendly shared information or through her shadow hands, but here was Amaya, apparently more informed than ever the best of her spies. She briefly wondered if Duren and Katolis would be withholding information from her, but given her relationship with Amaya it wouldn’t make sense. Unless… “Were you the one supposed to keep me informed of the other kingdoms affairs? Because neither your nephew or Aanya had informed me about Evenere’s situation...”

“ _No I wasn’t. And that’s because I don't think they were aware either. My information comes from inside Evenere._ ” Amaya paused to scratch her head thinking over how to say what she had to say. “ _Back when Sarai was still alive and starting to court with Harrow, there was a great festivity. There would even be a Tourney! And I was set to participate in it. Callum was only two back then. Sarai and I were already considered one of the best Katolis’ army had ever seen! But due to her growing relationship with the king she decided to not compete anymore in tournaments under Katolis patronage. Many nobles, knights and fighters from the other kingdoms came to participate and watch. I was obviously the champion. And on the commemorative ball that night I was approached by a beautiful lady bearing the colors of Evenere. Coincidentally enough… She was also a redhead. Maybe I have a type…_ ” Amaya winked and booped Janai’s nose who just rolled her eyes in amused annoyance. “ _We spent the night together, and the subsequent week that she stayed in Katolis. She was there not only to watch the tourney, but also as a diplomatic figure, you see, she was one of queen Fareeda's many cousins and she often acted as a confidant to the queen. We dated, visiting one another whenever it was possible. And then Sarai was killed. Harrow went mad with revenge, corrupted and manipulated by Viren’s words. Thunder was killed by him and the Breach became a priority. We broke up, but kept in contact exchanging personal letters. We don’t trade state secrets obviously, but I have a better notion of the goings in Evenere because of that. It’s been almost four months since the last letter, though. Any true monarch would have been chosen in these last few months._ ”

Janai stayed quiet for long seconds. She wasn’t jealous or wary of Amaya’s continued friendship with an ex she clearly valued. She didn't know if she should be surprised by that or not, she just knew she felt Amaya profoundly within her, but she saw herself within Amaya just as deep. “ _So… is Evenere quite a dreary as they say?_ ”

The human barks a laugh at the question, bringing a wide dazzling smile to the elf’s face. “ _Yes and no. It’s mostly Marsh and swampland indeed. Lot’s of rivers and very little dry land, plenty of insects... The mainland is a large island separated from the rest of the continent by our largest river’s river mouth. The water there is brackish because of strong sea currents that go into it. But there are smaller islands on the other side of the country, where it’s open to the ocean where you have beautiful beaches of white sand, coconut trees border it and the forest there is rich in many types of fruit trees. And then it soon delves into marshes once again._ ”

Amaya really appreciated how much of Janai’s attention she held when they talked, but it could get really distracting at times. Especially when they were alone as they were right then. Janai’s eyes, a clear amber with hints of orange in it, easily followed the movements of her hands. As she got more used and knowledgeable of the sign language the hard intensity of her gaze had softened, yet hadn't lost even a bit of its strength. And usually, such undivided attention awakened a fire within Amaya that she found time and time again even harder to control.

Swiftly she extended her hand in the elf’s direction with the back of her finger to delicately push behind her long and pointy ear a lock of her wet hair that was stuck to her face. Taking advantage of the move, she softly caresses the length of if when pulling her hand back, causing it to slightly flicker and tremble with how light the touch was. Janai doesn’t even try to hold back the low moan that escapes her lips. 

Amaya was fascinated by her ears, by how long they were and how sensitive. Much like a human’s the length was cartilaginous, but in the back at it’s base they had more muscles than human ones, making them a bit more mobile. It was more instinctive than forethought. They would faintly perk up at new sounds, drop down a little when tired or sad and push back and almost glue to the head when enraged. 

And Janai was equally fascinated by her lover's ears. Their shortness and roundness. How much easier it was to nuzzle her from the back without risk of accidentally poking herself in the eye and how Amaya loudly moaned when she traced it with her tongue, her whole body shivering with the action.

She tapped on the human’s shoulder indicating she needed her attention and Amaya reluctantly let go of the earlobe she was suckling. “We…” 

Janai sighs still defogging her mind unsure of how they had ended in their current position. Amaya straddling her tights, coarse hair tickling the top of her navel and arms resting at the edge of the bath and pressed against her shoulders. One of her hands was up, but the other firmly held Amaya’s bottom, helping in maintaining their bodies as pressed together as they were. 

She notices Amaya’s interrogation at the lack of a continuation to her words. “We should leave the bath. We still need to care for my horns, and then we can move on with the night.” She looks into the other woman's eyes with a smudge of uncertainty. “I mean… if you still wish to…”

Amaya cradles her face, the intensity of her eyes softening and a small adoring smile shows in her lips before she is pulled into a deep kiss. Amaya’s tongue intently licks Janais full lips making her open her mouth to welcome it. They kiss slowly. Each exploring each other mouths as if the first time they did so. Janai drops her other hands pulling Amaya against her, and the elf can feel the other woman's hairs damp with something denser than the water around them. Amaya moans against their moving lips, slightly rubbing herself against the other woman trying to cause some type of friction. It’s when Janai reaches over her ass, trying to reach her slit from behind that she seems to recover her bearings.

She pushed her upper body away from Janai, letting out a high pitched moan at the brief touch of Janai's fingers. Hands that now held her at her back. “Do…” She actually says, panting a bit. “ _I do want to learn and help you with your horns… and then we can go to bed._ ” She finishes signing one handed, while still gripping Janai’s shoulder with the other. 

Amaya leaves the pool first, the puddled water around the bath was cold in comparison causing a shiver to run down her spine. She walks to where the robes were hanging and dresses herself with the one laid out for her and also takes the opportunity to get Janai’s hers. When she turns the elf is already out of the bath and walking in her direction. She opens the robe in a silent offer to help the other woman.

Their every action is done slowly and with purpose. Amaya leaves it open hanging on Janai’s shoulder and while the woman closes her robe herself she starts to free her tied up hair. It's way fluffier and much curlier now. The rings of her curls were tight and maybe the size to comfortably wrap around her little finger for the most part, but at the base of her head near the nape the rings were wider and more loose. Closing her eyes she hugged Janai close to her burying her face in her soft flowing hair. Amaya loved the cornrows and they were indeed more practical on occasion, but this was also very nice.

Taking both hands that held her in her own, Janai raised them to her lips and kissed them.Breaking the embrace she looked back over her shoulder with a soft and inviting smile, guiding Amaya to where the products for taking care of her horns were stored.

They went back to her room, skin and hair still mostly damp, leaving wet footprints partway into the room. Two pairs of footprints, one with five toes and the other with four. Amaya doesn't know why, but for some reason even though she is very aware of the fact that elves have four fingers in their hands, their feet also having only four toes had come as a surprise to her at first. She had said as much to Janai even, which had caused a good twenty minutes laughing spree. Janai’s mirth brought out her own laugh and at the end they didn’t even know anymore what had been so funny.

Her things were at her vanity dividing the space with her diadem. Unlike Khessa, Janai prefered to wear a smaller crown on her day to day duties leaving the larger headpiece for interactions with the public and the open court.

She takes a number of materials. A small can thin and the size of a palm, two bottles made of thick and opaque glass, making it hard to see what it held inside, two small squares of different types of cloth, something that looked like a malleable and very fine nail file and a half foot long wooden stick with a dull pointy end.

Rather than sitting in the vanity she goes in the direction of her bed, she indicates for Amaya to climb in, but to stay at the foot of it, near the trunk that also doubled as a sitting place where she herself went to sit with her legs crossed and her back to the other woman. Amaya is quick to understand what Janai intends. The bed being taller would give her a bit of height advantage without the need of staying up while Janai was sitting down. She quickly adjusts her position getting closer to the edge of the bed and framing Janai with her bent legs. The elf comfortably rests her torso against Amaya’s chest looking up at her with a tantalizing smile. 

“ _Are you ready?_ ” Janai signed after making sure she had Amaya’s attention. 

The human then delicately grabbed Janai’s free flowing hair and with a twist kept it all together and away from her movements by tossing it over the elf’s shoulder and to her front. Janai, to ensure it would stay there pulls one the side of her robe to put over her tresses. When all is done, Amaya nods with confidence, ready to learn.

Janai explains the function of every product to the other woman. First she’d use the maleable file on her horns abrading out the older layer of keratin that was worn and brittle. With the wooden stick she’d carefully clean the space between the horn and the skin from where her horns grew out. Dead skin, dust, skin grease and many other things could accumulate there, and if not properly cleaned inflammations could occur. So Amaya cautiously cleaned there, making sure to not hurt Janai by using too much force or sticking it in too deep. After that the first bottle would be used. It had a clear and thin liquid inside that smelled a bit like fresh mint. With a corner of the first rag she’d rub it against the horn, it served mostly to clean the horn and the second vial that had a thicker and cloudy color was used to nourish them with some vitamins to keep them strong and healthy. The least part was something akin to lustring the horns. The can had wax in it and with the least piece of cloth she had to rub it until it left a thin and homogeneous layer over the horns. Then it just needed to dry and it was finished.

By the time Amaya finished, Janai had completely sagged against her front, her eyes were closed and a peaceful and satisfied smile played into her lips. Much like Janai’s ears, her horns fascinated Amaya, but she had always been unsure of touching them. Especially after one incident when Janai went down on her she had instinctively grabbed at it trying to keep the elf doing what she was. The action had caught both of them so much by surprise that it had almost ended the night.

Janai had said she didn’t mind if done carefully in such a situation, it just had been unexpected however Amaya had since then refrained from doing so. Too unsure of it, feeling like she was manhandling her in some way. And thus this was the first time in a long time that Amaya had truly touched them, and better yet it was an action of care and trust. 

She looked down at the woman leaning against her. Janai’s breathing was deep and even. Her eyelids would slightly tremble from time to time and her smile didn’t weaver even one bit. After verifying they were properly closed, she carefully put the things she used to treat the elf’s horns aside and farther away from them on top of the chest that janai was sitting on. She moved trying to not disturb the queen and in the best way she could she moved to gather the woman in her arms and pull her into the bed.

Amaya was sitting on top of her own calves and with Janai cradled against her while she removed the covers from the elf’s usual sleeping side when Janai awakened in her arms. Fact that she only noticed due to the open and wet kiss that was given to her neck. A small squeal that quickly turned to a moan when the elf started to suck on the skin there left the human’s mouth.

They stared deeply into each other's eyes, Amaya’s breath slightly heaving and Janai with a very satisfied smirk on her lips. “ _Are you tucking me in already?_ ”

“ _You fell asleep…_ ” The human pointed out. “ _These were long few days we just got back from a two day trip. I don’t mind if..._ ” She can’t keep signing, however, since Janai held both of her hands.

“You were very sweet while caring for my horns.” The elf kissed the hands she had captured before raising and kneeling so she could look right into Amaya’s eyes. “I’m not really that tired, it was just really comfortable. You’re so conscious of them… I know that you’re scared of disrespecting me, but when we’re in bed…” She interrupts her signing there so she can throw her arms over the human’s shoulder and bring their faces very close to each other. She speaks clearly and slow both to make sure Amaya will catch everything and so she can also catch the provocative intonation that she also shows through her expressions. “...And the mood kinda favors it… You’re more than welcome to grab me by the horns.”

It’s not often that Amaya can be caught in a shock as she is right now, so Janai takes advantage of it thoroughly. She grabs into her robe’s lapels drawing them down and pulling against her at the same time mounted the human’s lap trapping her hands between their bodies leaving Amaya pretty much with her breasts exposed yet restricted by her garments. Janai stares deeply into her lover’s eyes making sure she isn't uncomfortable with the situation. When a deep look of lust, excitement and anticipation stare back at her she feels good enough to proceed giving her a ravenous deep kiss.

“Besides…” She pants when she notices she has Amaya’s attention focused again. “You just came back from more than two weeks away. Then we both left to go after your own flying mount and you will soon leave again, Light knows for how long… No way I’ll miss this opportunity to make you sure you remember exactly who you belong **with**. Whose fire your timber feed. To whom you promised compromise and dedication...”

As she trails off she feels Amaya slightly move her arms. As if unsure if she should request to have autonomy of them again or not. The human doesn’t try again, but having noticed it and knowing it probably meant she had thought of saying something, Janai relaxed her hold and opened the necessary space between them for the other woman to be able to sign. 

“ _You are carved in my heart and soul Janai. If there is fire in my veins it’s yours._ ” she says it so earnestly and yet after just two seconds her expression changes to one of pure decadence, as she lays down not bothering to cover herself or close her robes. “ _But don’t see that as me stopping you from making sure that it really sink in._ ”

Janai doesn't say much after that. She has better things to occupy her mouth with laid right there before her and so readily offered. And Janai makes sure, she thoroughly makes sure to show how grateful she is for it. And later on she is thoroughly welcomed. And sleep claims them mid kisses, bodies intertwined and lips that just barely had parted from one another.

And of course morning greets her with the crashing of glasses and two freaking Inferno-Tooth Tigers in her private rooms. Because of course… as Amaya says is how it goes. 

Sometimes.

Usually…

Often enough for it to be annoying given the occasion.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next: A bit of a time jump? Just a little bit. A tiny weeny one. To Amaya's departure. Like two days tops.
> 
> Let's get this show on the road. After all, this is the only show able to get on the road at the moment with how things are going...
> 
> I hope Everyone is alright and safe in these convoluted times. I went through numerous phases just on the first week. I live with two people in the risk groups. So I'm the supply run girl and with how empty streets are it is also scary at times for more than one reason to have to go out right now. So I'm sure many more phases will come. So wash your hands! Keep safe and careful with who you touch face with! Let's relive the oldies and be pen pals with our crushes! (those who are luck to have them) These are times to yearn. 
> 
> Also, please tell me how much you are disappointed or not with how this turned out. I, for once, yearn for your comments, dear readers.


	12. Not a direct flight

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this chapter is more a intermission, mostly because i wanted to end were it did. it's a nice chapter conclusion. 
> 
> good reading o/

Amaya’s bags were resting against one of the wood posts supporting the extended roof of the barn housing hers and Janai’s flying feline companions.

After the first night Saya had finally accepted to sleep in her stall. And by her stall what it really means is the one she stole from Dollan. Not that he seems to mind, he seemed perpetually curious about her in truth, always trying to follow around, to the point they just took the partition between two stalls making a especially large one so he would stop sleeping unnecessarily in the open.

“Is she accepting the saddle well?” Janai asked, posture straight and with her hands at her back to stop herself from fidgeting. “We’re rushing a lot... her training, I mean.”

Kazi, who is well positioned to translate for Amaya, is pretty much ignored, the poor elf, since the human clearly preferred to read her lover’s lips when she didn’t sign things herself.

“ _She is not particularly happy, but became more accepting of it after that incident…_ ” Amaya gave the large cat a scathing side glance and, at last, Saya had the decency of looking dejected. 

Two days before, when they were trying to put the saddle on her back just so she could get used to the idea she had bucked very aggressively tossing it aside and grabbing at Amaya to take flight with her without a harness. However with both of them not used to it, an accident was sure to happen and that was exactly what occurred. Luckily they were rather close to the ground, but the tumble Amaya suffered left her with an arm and clavicle broken and three ribs cracked. 

A Sun mage healer with light being mode had never been more appreciated.

And since then Saya had also been way more subdued.

“Are you sure you want to go with her? You both lack training and you’re going alone.” Janai insisted.

“ _She doesn’t want to hurt me. She was almost as desperate as you. She has been way more well behaved since the accident._ ” Amaya pointed out before holding the Inferno-Tooth face between her hands. Saya closed her eyes and let out a deep purr. “ _We will be okay. And you said yourself I can't take Dollan anymore and I'll take double the time by ground if not more. I have a sense of duty, my Radiance, but I also want to come back to you as soon as possible._ ” 

A very discreet flush appeared in her cheeks. By discreet it just means that Kazi, who has been virtually forgotten by them, pretends to not notice it. 

"So…" she clears her throat clearly changing the subject when she notices the stablehand, that thankfully hadn't resigned yet, approaching with the last of the harness. "That ex of yours… given the lack of communication in the last, what? Four months? Do you think she could be one of the family members that has been slain?"

 _"If by then a new monarch had already been chosen I doubt it. She was never really out for power. Her sway was more due to the fact that she and Fareeda were close._ " Amaya paused for long enough to take the harnesses from the stable hand and throw them over her shoulder and so she could keep signing. _"But she could have gone into hiding, if things were really that ugly, being persecuted because of her loyalties and influences, and still not have gotten out or in a safe enough place to send word. She might not know a new monarch has risen to power either, in that case…_ "

"The way you say…" The queen chuckles dryly. "Makes me really wonder…. How many cousins exactly?"

 _"Plenty._ " Amaya gives a sudden bark of a laugh while finishing tying the last of the leather straps that safely affixed the saddle and bags to Saya. " _Both Fareeda’s mother and father had a claim to the crown, they’re cousins themselves, although a second or third cousin, mind you… and they had plenty of siblings, who also were very prolific. So, around fourteen on her father’s side and twenty on her mother’s. Both Fareeda and Nereena, that's my ex name, had siblings that passed away from a sickness typically spread during the country’s summer. Fareeda’s younger brother and Nereena’s older sister. Her parents were wary that she would also catch it and would often send her to spend time as a guest to the royal family. This is how they got so close._ ”

"I wish we had talked about this sooner." Janai says quietly. Although she had mentioned it as some sort of diversion due to her embarrassment and the approach of the stable worker, it really was pertinent political information. "All this will be quite useful in the coming months given their interest in the Alliance. We need to discover who is wearing the crown as soon as possible. And if things are truly resolved there now. I really hope it is and that your friend is safe, but we never can be so sure. And with a country commonly so secretive already..."

" _You are right_." The human nodded seriously. " _But one worry at a time. If Queen Aanya received word and they really choose a monarch, the Pentarchy will have been told, so Ezran also may know something. It will have been announced to all the human kingdoms_."

Amaya knew they were stalling. Saya was already completely harnessed. No one would move garrisons at this time, the ones going to the human kingdoms for the next few cycles had done so on the week she left on her quest for Janai's bracelet. So she would be leaving alone. Her bag was also ready and already her, just needing to be strapped to her mount's saddle. 

The early morning did wonders to Janai. Her hair was back in the usual cornrows and as promised Amaya had kept her company and watched the whole time while the royal hairdresser expertly bound the queen's hair. 

The elven woman had made herself apparently unperturbed by the presence of the two Inferno-Tooth tigers on the balcony, or by the complete destruction of the glass doors that separated said balcony from her room, or even by the fact that the queen's previously rumored and now very confirmed human lover was not only present, very lightly dressed and with obvious love bites on her neck and shoulders, but she had also stayed the whole time holding Janai's hand and periodically kissed it while they signed to one another with only the free one, refusing to let go of one another. 

A very embarrassed and **flushed** Kazi had approached Amaya later that day trying to understand what exactly the two of them had done, because the rumor mill around the palace servants was simply going crazy.

It hadn't been the hairdresser fault though, but the workers that went to fix the doors long after the Inferno-Tooth had left. So a mix of that with the known fact that Amaya had stayed the night **in** Janai's Chambers… and an innocent commentary can blow out of proportion.

Previously when saying goodbye to each other, they would clasp each other's forearms and stare deeply in each other's eyes, self-conscious of their positions and feelings. Now they freely wrapped themselves into each other, they nuzzled necks and kissed lips, they rested their forehead together for just a few more minutes sharing the same air.

The human also gave Kazi a farewell hug, she usually did so with good friends. Amaya grabbed her bag still resting against one of the barn’s poles and tied it to Saya's saddle and finally mounted her.

She was just ready to leave, to lightly press her heels to Saya’s flank to indicate they could take off, but before any of that happened she felt a hand rest at her tight. Following up the arm she found Janai’s flushed but determined face. She surreptitiously points at and pucker her lips. And with a somewhat haughty yet very loving look taking over Amaya, she gladly bends down giving the Queen one last farewell kiss. 

The travel to Katolis' capital was made way shorter with Saya. Not as fast as it would be with Pyrrha, dragons were surprisingly fast after all, and she, in particular, was also an exceptional flyer. But a Twin-Tailed Inferno-Tooth Tiger was a close second.

And this time over with the saddle and all the harnesses appropriately done the flight was being way more pleasant. Saya was also way more economical in her movements than Dollan. The male would often sway from side to side, sometimes missing or escaping an air current that had easily been carrying them. Saya stook to them, but that also made them fly a bit higher than usual. But that was travel flight, way more Pacific than a chasing or attacking one. She hadn't experienced it with Saya other than the few seconds before falling down and breaking several bones. Dollan had experience carrying a rider in such situations while she was sure she would have to train for said situations with Saya a lot yet so they can better synchronize with one another. 

With the travel by flight she only had to sleep once before reaching the breach for her second night of travelling. She slept at the sunfire settlement on the Xadian side of the breach, even though the human keep wasn’t even an hour on horseback from there and she was also pretty sure her old room remained empty. But the sunfire would better deal with Saya. They had a separate stable for such beings given that Janai had a Inferno-Tooth and pretty much had lived there once upon a time. 

The hay in the stall or the place itself must hold a bit of Dollan’s scent given how Saya rubbed and tossed herself around before finally quieting down. 

On the elven settlement there were a few humans lingering about. Foot soldiers that did walking patrols and often crossed with elven ones and probably had made some friends could be seen sharing a meal and drinks around the fires. After two years, even though you could still find some animosity and xenophobia, most of the soldiers that were more permanently stationed in the area had come to an understanding of one another. There are even some rumors of courtship between members of both armies going around the barracks.

Amaya assumed hers and Janai’s names were some of the most mentioned. She didn’t need to be able to hear to know so.

Some of the human soldiers when noticing her were quick to go greet her. Some even asked if she’d like the company when going to the Katolian keep for the night. And even though she could see it well written on their face the large majority refrained to ask why she was going to spend the night on Lux Aurea’s fort. 

She did point out the large winged feline to these who asked, however. Their startled and awed faces were quite entertaining.

Amaya also noticed the constant looks to her wrists. The elves tried to be discreet, but were quite lacking, especially when they would actually catch the sight of her bracelet. She forgot that even though Janai had hers for less than a week, she got hers long ago. It had been time enough for part of the troupes to have rotated and for news from the capitol to have reached the breach. And though no one openly asked her anything it was pretty clear they put her in Janai’s old room. It still had some of her scent in the air. And she could recognize some objects, like extra pieces of armor, her signature bath oil… 

Janai had said she had it made especially for her. It had just a touch of sleeping-grass, a different kind of processing was done in this case, as a very faint muscle relaxant. Wonderful for a soak after a full day of drills or hard battles. The perfume of the oil was also of a flower and spice combination of Janai’s choice, making it a unique concoction. 

Amaya had no reservation in not only using it on her bath there, but also in pocketing it so she could take Janai’s scent with her.

She does visit the Katolian Keep before forging ahead to the capital. On the next day she grabs Saya very early on before eating and flies to the other side of the breach. She takes her breakfast there. Saya waits for her outside with a plate of meat worth of at least a weekend of rations. She promises to other for more to be sent as compensation.

The soldiers there were a mix of old and new faces. There were even people she hasn't ever seen before. She was still considered the general of the Katolian army but it was more of a reservist position than anything else. To only be called upon in a state of emergency. She wrote and planned the training drills, but she didn't apply them anymore. 

Her attention was solely on Unity and her new obligations. A way to keep peace between humans and Xadians.

She left after a round of friendly hugs and pats from old friends and colleagues and under the awed gaze of the newbies, especially after she mounted Saya once again and took to the skies.

Katolis royal castle and city was way closer to the border than Lux Aurea was. While she had taken almost two full days to reach the breach from there, a fast messenger on a rested horse could reach Katolis castle by night if they really pushed it. So her, on her rested and capable flying mount, ended up reaching the city by lunch time.

They started their descent doing large and lazy circles passing over the market district and busy passageways. She could even spot some elves between the human population. Most likely members of Unity on their days off, since civilian migration haven't been largely encouraged yet. But the lack of visible hostility sure gave her hope. Not that she could hear them to know if bad things were being said or not, but everyone seemed very relaxed from her perspective. And she was very talented in reading the mood. 

She had to be.

After about ten minutes of lazy circling and starting to catch the population's attention, if the pointed fingers and sudden agglomerations were any indication, she decided to finally put an end to her unplanned sightseeing and head for the Royal stables of the castle. 

Her landing caused an enormous ruckus. From startled yells to scared horses and a desperate set of guards suddenly flooding the stables to a very displeased Inferno-Tooth Tiger roaring posed to attack at any moment. 

It was only then that it came to Amaya's attention that she completely forgot to forewarn the castle about her arrival with the unusual and temperamental mount.

 _Well… Fuck._ Is all that comes to Amaya's mind at the moment.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We're in Katolis now lets see some people!
> 
> Next: Lil' Ezran says hi! <3 Bait too obviously. 
> 
> I pretty much head cannon Amaya having a potty mouth and yet she has been really well behaved in my dialogues...


	13. Not a cold reception

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wasn't that satisfied with this one at first but i think i got it slightly better now. I haven't much to say. i'm a bit exhausted due to a home work i got that is turning more of a mess the more time pass. Here is to hope that it just finishes soon. Too little reward for too much trouble. I can't focus on anything else, it's pretty much a miracle that I finished this now!

It takes a while to calm things down. But they do calm down. It was mostly Ezran's doing, obviously. The guard had backed off soon enough when they recognized her, but the animals…

"It's no wonder they call you The Beast Tamer, Your Majesty!" An eager and very green crown guard had said in wonder bringing a forced smile to the young King's face. 

Ezran really disliked the title. Pretty much everyone in the inner circle and who was close to the boy knew it. But he did return twice to claim his throne on the back of beasts. First it was a banther and on the second time, Pyrrah had brought him back to Katolis. 

The fire dragon was almost as attached to him as Zym was. Had she been any smaller and able to easily fit into buildings she would probably ask to be the young King's personal guard. Much like Corvus was.

Since it was not the case she had taken position within Unity and primarily resided in the Katolian garrison. It was quite the sight and was quite the situation at first too. She was the only dragon with an almost permanent presence in the human side of the continent. She'd go to Lux Aurea a month before Amaya's travel to Katolis and would come back with her and the troupes that would rotate their posts.

The banther incident, his companionship with Bait or even his righteous return on Pyrrah's back hadn't been the only occasions where Ezran had shown his ease with animals however. During his first festival as a king he had stopped a crazed bull who had been tearing into stands and passerby, saving the life of a young girl and her grandmother, all with words and an intense stare-down.

Sometimes it seemed that that had made him more of a hero than saving the dragon prince and bringing peace between two people after a thousand year of hate and conflict, within the local populace… 

It's only when it's just the two of them at one of the castle's private courtyards that he finally lets out a tired sigh. 

"They will never stop calling me that, will they?" He complains only bothering to sign half of it. 

Amaya smiles at the gesture, previously he'd leave the signing pretty much to Callum, but has taken to signing more and more lately. " _Unless you do something else really outrageous… you can bet your jelly tarts that Queen Aanya will be old and wrinkled like a raisin and they will still call her a_ child queen." She patted on the ground next to her, beckoning him to approach.

He had placated Saya, but was still respectful of her personal space and only approached now because his aunt called for him and he didn't notice any protest from the winged beast snuggled at her back.

" _Titles are usually like that… hard to shake off._ " She side-hugs him, pulling him closer.

He stares at the tiger for long seconds before giving a nod. "She says she is sure you know that already, but she is sorry for your arm." He doesn't question more. She knows he wants to, but he doesn't. "I hope you don't mind us converting the balcony of your private rooms in the castle into a sort of nest for her. We will put a heavy canvas to break the wind and protect her from any rain. But we don't have an adequate place for her yet. She doesn't mind being closer to you either, she says…"

" _I don't mind it either but it's not always viable._ " She answers, giving Saya a nudge with her elbow, plenty aware of the tiger's attention.

“She is not so sorry for… she broke Queen Janai’s windows!? Why?” He asks wide eyed. The childlike reaction warmed Amaya’s heart. 

She had refused at first the role of Regent because her priority had been finding them and protecting the breach, but after everything, if it was so Ezran could remain being a kid she would have accepted the role. She worried for him, and consequently worried about queen Aanya just as much. Children should be just that, in her opinion. She knew very well what it meant to take on the world so young, but she was already a teenager back then when it happened to her. Ezran was ten when he took the responsibility and Aanya even younger.

Ezran’s voice had just started to change, sometimes breaking in the middle of his speech. He, at first, would often blush in embarrassment if it was during court or some public function, but now had started to take it with a barely faked confidence.

“ _I_ _spent the night in her room…_ ” Amaya answered truthfully. She wondered if the boys knew the actual extent of her relationship with Janai. 

Callum had called them friends, and even thought his little girlfriend would often tease at more, the boys never seemed to catch onto that. But she wouldn’t lie, especially now that they had somehow finally officialized it.

And also… it was important. Politically, to know that. She didn’t like to think about her relationship like that, but she was a known figure of the Katolian army. She was also from a noble house. A young one that started with her and Sarai, but a noble house nonetheless. To be in a relationship with a Queen of another country in itself would already be meaningful and have a great impact. But add to that that it was a Queen from a until recently enemy nation and an inter-species relationship and you just tripled its repercussion.

Amaya is unsure if he understood what she meant and he doesn’t comment on it. He just smiles and nods, changing the subject and telling her that Callum was also visiting, but was probably on a date with Rayla.

“They will probably arrive soon with how impressive your arrival was.” he joked. 

They don’t stay much longer there. Before separating so he could attend to his duties and she could finally settle down her things, however, she pulls him in another thigh hug. She sometimes felt like she was neglecting them. She always visited when she could but sometimes she still wondered if she made the right choice after they had defeated Lord Viren. Yes Ezran had decided to take the responsibilities in his own hands, his strong desire to not follow in his father's mistakes. She could, maybe even should have stayed by his side, but with Callum pretty much all over Xadia following trying to learn magic and with Janai looking at her as she had back then…

In the end there was no right answer, not to her heart at least. Not completely. Callum was already at an age one would grow their wings and leave the nest, only he took that a touch too literal. Ezran had a trusted safety nest with him. Opeli and Corvus are loyal and have not only the country but Ezran’s well being in their minds. Corvus specially. They’re always exchanging letters, and when she is in Katolis she made sure to spend as much time with him as possible. 

And Janai… when it came down to Janai… it always felt like it was the only indulgence she permitted herself. To give in to explore what they could be together. She can care and watch her family from afar, and she will run to them at the first sign of need, but just this once, she permitted herself to love and to give in, to stay and to build something. She had tried once before when Sarai was happy and building her own family, her second attempt in doing so, but then... Sarai was gone and she had a duty to her king and her nephews became her whole world. The need to keep them safe her whole drive. So now, that she new they were with trusted people, that she could get to them, that they knew hoe to keep themselves safe... she permitted herself to have something that was hers. 

She had just finished her late lunch when someone started to knock on her door very energetically. She only noticed something because out of nowhere Saya got agitated and started to enter her room and prowl in the direction of the door.

She gave a short whistle pointing sharply to the ground. The suspicious beast reluctantly laid down, but attentively followed her movements ready to pounce if needed.

She opened the door and on the other side stood Callum. The boy was taller now, and had a bit of hair com his chin that could hardly be called a beard. she pulled him in a hug lifting him of the ground in her usual style.

“ _Do you need me to teach you to shave?_ ” She asked before he could make any move, causing Rayla to bark a laugh behind him.

The girl was still a bit taller than her boyfriend and if they kept growing at the same rate she probably always would be. 

“See? Even your aunt thinks you look silly!” she says messing his hair before turning to Amaya and blushing a bit before straightening her posture. She would still often feel awkward in her presence. “ _Good to see you again, general._ ” she signed.

Like Janai, the young moonshadow elf was still learning, still getting the habit of signing, but it had surprised her a lot when Callum had told her in a letter that he had been teaching her. Her movements were a bit less fluid than Callum’s and Janai’s, but it warmed her heart. 

“Wait! Is that an Inferno-tooth!?” she exclaimed before letting Amaya answer. She immediately pulls Callum by his shirt, getting him further away from the door with her.

“ _She won't hurt you._ ” Amaya rolls her eyes… as if the both of them wouldn’t be pure of heart. “ _Greet her, her name is Saya. And I will send her out._ ”

Callum hugged her again before entering the room and greeted the beast. His reluctance more due to her size and sharp and glistering talons than to an inherent knowledge of the beast's preference for the pure hearted. Rayla does the same a little further away than Callum and giving, quick and nervous looks in Amaya’s direction. Saya doesn't acknowledge them much, she mostly notices the ease of her bonded near these new people and consents to their presence.

“When I saw you flying in, I thought you were with Queen Janai. But you’re alone… Did she give you one of those too?” He asks after Saya finally leaves and tucks herself in her improvised nest and they sit down on her reception area armchairs and loveseat.

“ _I_ _n_ _a way. We hunt for her together after…_ ” she paused then a little unsure of how to say it. “ _I have a present for the two of you._ ”

From her bag she grabs a pouch with the necklaces inside she pulls each from the inside of the bag and lets them unroll before them. The moon arcanum before Callum and the sky arcanum before Rayla. And while Callum extends his hands in curiosity, Rayla just stares wide eyed and blushing.

“Hummm… General Amaya, _I’m not sure if you know…_ ” Before the girl can finish Amaya just pulls her sleeve back a little revealing her bracelet and making the elf click shut her mouth.

“ _Please accept these._ ” She grabs Rayla’s hand and lays the necklace on her open palm, while she can see Callum already putting it on at the corner of her vision. “ _I’m sure Rayla can explain to you better later, but me coming back to Katolis later than usual has everything to do with the fact that Janai gave me this bracelet. It’s pretty much us coming out as a couple._ ”

“You’re dating **Queen Janai**!?” Callum squeals clutching his fists against his chin and swinging his feet energetically. 

“ **Officially!?** ” Rayla bulges her eyes out even more. A little more and Amaya might worry they will just pop out of her head. “Are you **engaged** now? That's **huge**!” Callum squeals once more at that.

“ _No!_ ” She shakes her head firmly. “ _Not yet, but it's something that we agreed will be happening probably sooner than later._ ” she rolled her eyes at her nephew bouncing, now containing his yells against his fists. “ _Thing is, I went on a quest to get her a bracelet as an answer. I found four things other than the bracelet for Janai in this journey. A shop in a crossroads village that sells the best dried fruit snacks._ ” She raises a finger for effect. “ _These necklaces that just reminded me of you two._ ” Another finger... “ _A potential instructor in magic for you that happens to be Startouch._ ” A third finger goes up. “ _And one of the specters of Raylas old companions that Viren raised to attack the other human royals._ ” 

“Wait, what?” “Another shadow assassin? In Xadia?” “A teacher?” “Startouched mage?” They tumble, one skeaking over the other, she has a really hard time trying to keep up. Luckily, Callum would also sign his queries. 

“Snacks!? What snacks have to do with anything!” Rayla finally ends in an outburst.

“ _They were really good ones._ ” Amaya answers seriously.

“So you came later because you had that trip? You came to warn Ezran personally?” Callum asks wide eyed.

“ _No. I warned him through a letter. He already knows._ ” Amaya rolls her eyes at her older nephew’s question, brushing it off with her hand.

“What did you come to do then? The rotation of soldiers is already done, I’ve heard.” Rayla asks while putting on her necklace. When she notices Amaya’s knowing look she blushes a bit.

But then Amaya's face became slightly somber.

“ _I came to speak with Claudia._ ”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OK! Next: I hope we actually speak with Claudia, but it might end up only happening on Chapter 15... 
> 
> I have some plans guys.... lets just hope i actually get to them lol.


	14. Not what was expected

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WELL, in the end Claudia didn't make this chapter, buuuuuut you get Corvus and Opeli and 3 new OCs (there might be some mixed feelings on this one I guess.) I also kinda know what to do with Evenere now. So yay. There is a bit more of world building in this one. 
> 
> Happy reading!

Callum and Rayla don’t stay for long after she reveals to them her desire to speak with Claudia. They understand her sense of urgency. Callum just begs for her to explain better later what she meant about a startouch instructor in magic. Wasn’t that exactly what went wrong with Viren? The thought does cross his mind but he stays quiet. The intrusive assumption does feel quite sour in his throat.

Amaya leaves her room after a few minutes trying to convince Saya to not try to follow her. The stubborn creature reluctantly accepts after Amaya tries to force close the door of the balcony on her for the fifth time. 

She goes directly to the courtroom and waits to be announced and called inside. The council is different from the last time she had been here. Of course those favoring Viren had been all dismissed with some even being jailed for the treason. Opeli being the only one truly remaining from Harrow’s reign. Corvus pretty much became an honorary council member even though he refused the title and the uniform, rather keeping the appearance of being his personal guard instead of an adviser. 

And, ideally, Callum was to occupy Viren’s old role as court mage, but since he was still studying it and preferred to stay near Rayla at the storm spire to do so, the position had been left unoccupied for the time being. Due to the girl’s knowledge Ezran had approached Claudia about it, but... Even the argument that she didn’t need to be a mage just an expert had been enough.

“She still hasn't left the tower, except on the anniversary of Viren’s death. She and Soren went on a walk together and she locked herself, only accepting her food and not looking or talking to anyone for the following week.” had been Corvus' report. “It’s mostly the boys and sometimes Opeli that still tries to speak with her. The rate of success varies from week to week. I think Opeli feels a little responsible for the turn of events. She said she feels she should have believed in her and offered support rather than immediately accuse her and her brother of treason just because of Viren.” was added almost as an afterthought.

The council was smaller now. Only two other members besides Opeli, and if you counted Corvus you had a total of four people. The two new members look at Amaya with some reservation. The male, Enrick, is younger than her, and just a bit over Corvus’ age, he was from mixed ethnicity, tan skin, clean shaved face, gray eyes and curled light to medium brown hair. A bit shorter than the average man, but not by much and rather thin, clearly not one too interested in exercises. 

She knows why he looks like that at her. His father had been one of the very vocal nobles against, not only Harrow marrying Sarai, but also his decision of raising the both sisters to nobility. It had been somewhat of a scandal at the time. The King courted a woman of such unknown birth, without a House or Name. Enrick was alright though from what she remembered. Had been way closer to his mother, rather than to his father, a woman of serene bearing and cunning wit. Too bad she had been too underappreciated by her husband and kept away from most of the courts affairs. The man was now dead and she spent most of her time in their summer house with an ever ailing mind. Still sweet, still serene, but her wit was rather impaired as of late.

The woman, Amaya wasn’t so sure. She wasn’t from one of the noble houses. The first council member out of the common folk. She had been an exemplary student at their most renowned academy. Maybe her reservation was due to her great proximity to the sunfire elves. Maybe she felt like Amaya had lost a bit of her loyalty. Maybe she forgot she is Aunt to the King and that family to her means everything. Her name was Ariadna and she had a very pale complexion, something rather unusual between Katolis’ folks, especially in the capital, her hair was as black as a moonless night and so seemed to be her eyes. And even though she was so pale she had no freckles, but a mole under the right corner of her thin mouth and another one a little higher up in the middle of her cheek.

“General Amaya, good to see you again.” Opeli greeted her from her place at the right side of the King. “I hope you find yourself in good health.”

The courtroom was spacious since it was also the place where Ezran would have his public’s hearings. The council room was a much smaller one that connected to this one through a door on the left corner obscured by heavy drapes, but they wouldn’t be using it today apparently.

Corvus stood on the opposite side of Opeli. And the two new High-Council members here a few feet away from the dais and just partially turned to greet the new arrival.

She was aware of Opeli, Corvus and Ezran knowing sign language, but she was unsure of the other two. Maybe, due to her ambitions Ariadna might know, but she knew how Enrick's father had been, he may have stopped any attempt of having it included in his son’s education.

“ _Well enough, Opeli, thank you._ ” Amaya smiles at the sober woman. They had great respect for each other even though their way of approaching things often clashed.

“I assume your late return is not related to Unity’s business given the fact that the garrison haven't seen a visit from you yet, general.” Ariadna speaks in a dry tone, visible in her facial expression. 

Amaya can see Ezran slightly frown at the woman’s manners, but doesn’t outright complain and so she follows his exemple. Though, she doesn’t care much for the girl’s attitude anyways.

“ _Not exactly. I’d like to announce a personal matter that might affect Katolis politics, though, now that I think about it… but it wasn’t the reason for my visit._ ” She scratches her head, maybe she should have been more clear about it with Ezran earlier.

“What would that be about, general?” Opeli frowns in wonderment. 

“ _In the eyes of Lux Aurea’s population, Queen Janai and I have officialized our relationship. They have the costume to gift their significant others with jewelry made of primal stones as a symbol of commitment. She gave me such a thing and I accepted and answered in kind._ ” 

There is a brief and very wide eyes silence. And then Corvus and Ezran’s looks morph to one of delight, Opeli, while not bothered by it also seems to be pondering something. Enrick is acting like all his ability of processing thoughts has stopped all at once. And Ariadna flushes immediately.

“What!?” She exclaims a little in indignation. “Are you to completely abandon your people… your King for… for Elves? For a pretty piece of...”

“Ariadna!” Ezran finally interveins. 

Which is really good because depending on what the woman was about to say she’d have a lot of problems with the counselor.

“General Amaya, **my aunt** , is a exceptional member of our society. She has done great things for our people. One of them includes solidifying our friendship with such new allies. If she has found love while doing so, so be it.” He says seriously and stares the woman down from his place on the dais.

“She just happens to be an overachiever and seduced their Queen while at it…” Corvus adds playfully, winking at his friend.

“That can be a complication, yes…“ Opeli starts. “But also a great political opportunity. Strengthening our bond to an elven nation in these times where we’re at odds with some of the human nations and a unification of the continent is being attempted can be greatly valuable…” She notices Amaya starting to raise her hands in protest when she adds appeasingly. “I know your relationship is real and not political in its core, but you have to recognize that it shakes things a little, Amaya. It has political weight. It would have if you two were the first inter-species commoners to join in a relationship. But you’re no commoner and you also fell for a Queen. It means a lot of things and we should use them in our favor.”

“But we just came out of a thousand years of animosity, what if it comes to a situation where she has to choose between us and them?” Ariadna protests. 

“Once upon a time, I believe…” Enrick finally speaks, seemingly out of his momentary stupor. “This discussion would have been about how General Amaya’s, sister to the queen, relationship with Lady Nereena, greatest confidant and advisor of Queen Fareeda, would affect us politically. After all this time, the general Amaya remains the same, she just upped a little her game and it’s consequences. Much like Evenere was an allied nation, so is now Lux Aurea.” His demeanor is calm and his gestures are minimal and slow. “It doesn’t matter who she is getting involved with, it will have some political repercussions.” 

“I’m sure queen Janai’s council and advisers are equally aware of such.” Opeli takes command of the room. “We can join our heads with them later for us to better deal with it.”

“It will be dealt with when it’s due.” Ezran agreed. “But we have more pressing situations…”

“ _Yes._ ” Amaya agreed. “ _I’ve encountered one of Viren’s shadow assassins in my travels. It was all the way in Xadia, deep into the continent. We know that both the late prince Kasef and queen Aanya were able to dispatch, each, one of them. The other two just disappeared after fulfilling their command. Given everything that was happening at the moment we never stopped to consider what became of them._ ” Amaya gives a brief pause to see if everyone is accompanying her. “ _Because of Viren’s thoroughness we know how the assassins look, and because he conserved the corpses to extract as much magic from them we were able to give them back to their families for proper burial, but we never stopped to consider what became of the specters. They’re incredibly hard to kill, each hit barely seems to slow them down. Kasef lost almost an entire troop in doing so... But queen Aanya was able to restrain it. It was chained and taken to the Solar Prison. The high noon sun, apparently, making it vanish from this world._ ”

“And how did you deal with the shadow assassin, general?” If there is still any strong animosity coming from Ariadna it’s veiled, her expression seeming one of true curiosity. 

“I also put it away with Light. The shadow was attacking the city where I was purchasing Janai’s bracelet… You see one of the ways they show their commitment is with jewels made with primal stones. Nothing too big just enough for small spells of convenience.” She stops signing to show the room her bracelet and it’s small shining beads. “Since these are of the Sun arcanum I can create warmth and light with it.” Taking Kaarin’s suggestion in consideration she evoques in her mind a small, weak but noticeable glow while drawing the draconic rune for it in the air. The glow is small and flicker’s like the light of a candle, but is enough to make those in the room gasp in surprise. Not that Amaya would have noticed with her eyes closed as they were. “I was able to pin it against a wall and summoned a much stronger Light back then. With that it was blown from existence.” She finishes as the glow fades away.

“So, light is enough to send it away…?” Ezran asks with a frown.

“No, I don’t think so… It has attacked during the day. Fareeda was killed early in the day, the attacks on Neolandia and Duren were also during light hours. Del Bar was at dawn, but there was still some light out.” It’s Opeli who says so.

“Then how would Duren have been able to dispatch it if they said they just restrained it at the Solar Prison?” Enrick asks, curious.

“Have you ever seen the Solar Prison?” Corvus asks, at the other councilman’s denial, he starts to explain. He had been there once with Amaya on a specific occasion, long ago when he was still just one of her squires. “It’s a large concrete disc built at the top of one of the more open and highest peaks around the capital. You’d think that at that height it would be more cold than hot, and, well... it is during the night, but during the day? No shadow to shelter you, the Sun upon you the whole day. Water is given as sparsely as possible. The chains and exposed cages, made of iron so it will just burn your skin while it heats in the sun and give you frostbite during the nights… Reflexive panels located around the place will glare light in your eyes… it’s a pretty terrible place to be jailed at. As I’ve heard it’s almost never used these days. Not as a full time jail at least.”

“There are also rumors of it having some magic properties… something related to the Sun arcanum. The solar prison is old enough that it existed since the time when Xadia was still undivided.” Ariadna complements.

“ _The Light cleanses and judges, given the usage of the place it must have attracted Light’s attention and it became some sort of pseudo nexus._ ” Amaya shrugged. “ _A mage would be able to tell, but that’s something for Duren to concern themselves with, not us._ ”

“I didn’t know you’d take an interest in magic, Amaya…” Opeli jokes in good nature.

“ _Honestly? I don’t, but… the way we know it the Arcanums are like old Gods. The Sunfire worships The Sun and The Light are Its manifestation and tool. It’s just something you come to understand when coexisting with them._ " She expresses in seriousness. " _I'm sure they experience the same when it comes to our costumes. So it's not hard to believe that The Light shines there to do it's purpose, that is to judge and cleanse_."

"But that's not all…" Ezran recognizes and points out.

Amaya shakes her head in agreement. No it wasn't all. Things were way more complicated. A lot happened at once. No matter how much you tried to run from it. "I'm requesting an audience with Claudia, I need to speak with her about the spectres. She doesn't practice it but she still is the most knowledgeable in that matter. And I also wish to speak about Evenere."

"You can try to speak with Claudia as you wish, she is not a prisoner even if she treats herself as one. We accepted the Sunfire ritual as the punishment for her crimes and we also recognized the manipulation done by Viren as a relief of her guilt. She is now a ward of Katolis and it's Crown as we also recognized how our inertia aggravated the situation and weakened her state of mind, opening space for Viren to act. Soren and her are a victim of our neglect and as such our responsibility." Opeli once again is the one to give voice to the council. "As about Evenere, if I'm not mistaken, for years you had been our primary source of information, what changed now?"

She knew about Claudia's situation, mostly. Corvus was right, Opeli does feel responsible and guilty for some of it. It wasn't surprising given that the woman could be incredibly empathetic at times. Most people wouldn't think so, believing the woman to be ruled by reason and a sticker to the rules and laws, but Amaya had bore witness to her empathy quite often in the years they knew each other.

" _My source… seems to have dried and I worry why_." Amaya admits. " _I've been told they claimed a new monarch, but everyone seems to leave out who exactly has ascended to the throne_." 

There is a long silence in the room, every eye locks on each other looking for ways to say what comes next.

"We don't really know." Corvus says, finally. 

Amaya can notice his tension. He also knew Nereena, had spent time with her with almost as much frequency. Same goes for Gren. Both had been Amaya's squires once upon a time and as such they had known closely who Amaya spent her time with. They both had gone to Evenere with her even after taking their own positions in the army. They both had remained with her personal team after all.

"We received a letter…" Enrick cleans his throat, Amaya notices by the pursing of his lips and the bobbing of his Adam's apple. "It's the same Duren, and I assume also Del Bar and Neolandia received. It’s been a few months since then, but it doesn't say much, only that a new era of stable ruling finally reached Evenere. A new monarch has been chosen and ascended to the throne. In an addendum they expressed their desire to join our alliance with the Xadians and to participate in our summit. No words since then have reached us. Our answer about their participation was that it should first be discussed between the allied nations first."

"But no name has been revealed, we don't even know if it's a king, queen or anyone else. We don't know if a new house has taken power in place of Fareeda's lineage. Basically, we know nothing." Ariadna rejoins the conversation.

“ _That’s a bit worrying._ ” There is a deep frown on Amaya’s face while she tries to think of a solution. If there is anyone talking to her at that moment she wouldn’t know given how hard she was glaring at the ground. “ _I want to try something. If I receive any news I'll be sure to share with you. But I would already be prepared for some sort of situation._ ”

When she leaves the room it’s almost dinner time. So she decides to go to Claudia the next day, so she can get some food and share breakfast with her. They will have more time to talk too, that way. She had thought about sharing her dinner with Ezran and Callum but the young King said he’d be busy going over some things with Opeli that night and Callum and Rayla had gone out again to a tavern that served Callum’s favorite foods during festival time. So Amaya goes to her room. She passes by the kitchen first, to order food for her and also for Saya. The cook and the rest of the staff look at her slightly horrified at her request for a large pile of uncooked meat. 

As she approaches her room she notices the doors are slightly ajar and shadows indicate some sort of movement from the inside. She just hopes she won't find Saya feasting on the dead body of a wannabe intruder. 

To her surprise however it’s Ihlas that she finds inside. Saya, thankfully is not eating him, but indeed seems very unhappy with his presence.

“ _She must have noticed you’re related to Janai or you would have been her dinner…_ ” She announces after getting his attention with a soft knock at the archway of her door.

“Did you just say that she didn’t eat me because I'm Janai’s little brother?” he frowns trying to make sense of her signs. He had less practice than his sister, but they could talk even without the presence of an interpreter. At her nod he scoffs. “Nah… I'm really just that good with animals.”

“ _You’re not._ ” She deadpans. He was ok with them, he loved animals, but had a really hard time at showing his boundaries and showing authority, so animals tended to walk all over him. His mounts with more of a mind of their own than obeying his commands.

“I just like to let them have their freewill.” He shrugs.

Ihlas was a young adult, same age as Soren and they both were equally jovial, it just expressed differently sometimes. Janai’s young brother had some flair and flamboyance to him. His skin tone was closer to Khessa’s but his hair had the same color and texture as Janai’s and he also wore it in cornrows. Half of it in loose braids and the rest of it glued to his head making it look like a faux sidecut. He had it shorter than Janais with the lengthiest part barely reaching his shoulder. His body type was also similar to his sister. His horns were a bit straighter than Janai’s and pointed right up, he wore two golden rings on the left one and only one on the right one. His markings were of a half sun on his forehead and a finger thick line that went from under his lower lip to his collarbone. It was pretty obvious his relation to Janai, in looks in ideals… but their personalities could greatly differ at times.

“ _You know… you can’t be the Golden Knight if you can’t even control your own mount. Can you imagine the message it will give? You having to walk or be taken on the rump of someone else's mount everywhere?_ ” she mocks him.

“You mean me being taken as a passenger?” At her nod he frowns even more. But a little more petulantly this time around. “I bet if I got me an Inferno- Tooth I'd be better at it. They bond with their raiders! Look at this one! She is all stubborn just like you.” At this, Saya, who had come to greet Amaya and had walked back again to the door to the balcony, snorts. He looks exaggeratedly hurt in her direction. “How come Janai let you have one, but not me?”

“ _She wanted to be able to come after me at any moment and if I were to use Dollan she wouldn’t be able to do it as easily._ ”

“She lent you Dollan? Impossible! When that even happened?” He gasps. “She is so possessive of him!”

“ _I needed to give her an answer, so I went after my own to gift it to her._ ” Before he can ask anything else she shows him the bracelet. She has an inkling that he will not only recognize what it is but also which one it is. 

He gives a high pitched squeal at the sight of the bracelet, not that she can tell, but if Saya's annoyed expression and the fact she was covering her ears with her front pall was anything to go by, it must have been a mighty squeal indeed. 

Another difference between him and his older sisters was that he had way less restraint when it came to physical contact. As soon as he got his problem with Amaya solved he was very quick to greet her with hugs and friendly pats. At the start, when she and Janai still were just flirting with the idea of actually pursuing something between them, the sunfire queen would often squirm in quiet jealousy with the ease her brother approached the human general.

At some point Janai had even admitted to have cornered her brother to know if he had any sort of crushes on Amaya.

"Oh! My! Light!" He exclaims and actually sign the initials. "Do you have a date for the marriage already or are you two still all 'it's not like that' yet?" By his expression and mannerism she can bet there was some falsetto in there.

" _We both know it will happen, but we don't have a date or anything like that. We're not engaged yet._ " She shrugs.

"Wait wait…" he frowns, probably replaying her gestures in his mind. "You're not engaged but talked about it?" At her nod he sighs with a satisfied smile and for a second seems to even be saying a prayer… "That's wonderful." but then his looks change and he stares at her a bit deadpan. "Okay… then, so why the fuck I'm here?"

The swearing habit was new and all Amaya's fault, though.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next: this time there will be Claudia... i'm sure... i think.


	15. Not the best, but not the worst kind of parenting skills

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> it will be my birthday in less than a week.... x.x'
> 
> i'm tired guys. be safe. love you comments and your opinions and theories <3
> 
> be
> 
> safe

Ihlas hadn't been exactly happy with Amaya's answer. Touched, but not happy. He left her room complaining about how no one would take him seriously if Janai kept smothering him and that Amaya had just picked up on the habit.

It's not just for their ease of mind, she had told him, it's also for Lux Aurea. The moment had left the mood a little somber, but he understood that and he closed her door after a short strained nod.

She'd have to talk with him better later on. She wanted the best for him and for Janai. Be it being overprotective or thinking of Lux Aurea first. This time things simply overlapped.

She had dinner by herself while scribbling and sketching something she wanted to work on. She wasn't as good as Callum, but she liked to think it was a habit he picked from her. When he was little and still picking up the signs they would often have whole conversations through drawings. She loved that it was something he still did.

It wasn't something she had with Ezran… as many memories and fond moments as she had with Callum, and it wasn't even due to the age difference. But just the circumstances of their growing up. She worried if Ezran felt left out, if he felt abandoned…

She tried to not overthink it, but at times bouts of guilt would crash through her.

The night was lonely, her largest comfort a drop of the bath oil she had absconded from Janai’s room at the sunfire keep. The scent alone lulled her to sleep and into dreams of dark soft skin, red hair and honeyed eyes.

Her wake up call was a scratchy hot lick from chin to hairline and smelly warm air blown into her face. She is not surprised when she finds Saya staring at her. It had been warm enough the previous night so she had left the balcony door open. The large cat had crawled in at some point and was now demanding attention. With no reluctance at all Amaya indulges her in it. She sits in the bed pulling the animal’s head to her lap before starting to pet and scratch her head and neck. She can feel against her legs the vibrations of Saya’s purr. They don’t stay long like that but it’s a good bonding time.

Rather than ask for her breakfast to be delivered to her room, she goes to the kitchens where she gets a portion big enough for her and Claudia. The trek up the tower room she now resided in longer than she had expected. She was in the highest room in the second tallest tower of the castle. The tallest one being an astronomy observatory and study room.

If not for her years of exercise and active lifestyle she might have been out of breath by the time she reached the room. 

She knocks on the door once, balancing the tray of food in one hand. When she gets no answer she knocks again. And again. By the forth time the door is harshly pulled open.

"Why don't you just…? Oh." Perhaps she had been calling for whoever was knocking on the door to go in.

Her look is one of surprise. Her eyes widen and her mouth hangs open. She walks back recoiling in herself giving space for Amaya to enter, hardly looking at her. That wouldn't do. There would be no way for Amaya to talk to her if the girl avoided looking at her.

She strides in noticing the organized mess that was the room. There were a lot of books and paper around. None on magic she noticed, nothing in the room had relation to magic… even the girl's clothing was different. It was still a long tunic over pants, but it was softer looking. It fell freely on her frame hiding her shape. It was also red, oddly enough. The color looking rather out of place on the girl. 

Noticing the bare feet and slightly messy hair she wondered if it simply was the girl's sleepwear.

" _Did I wake you up?_ " Amaya asks after finding some space on one of the two tables in the room. 

The room was circular and took the whole of the floor, except for the wall leading to a small hall where the tower's stairs lead to. It had a bed tucked into one side and four large and tall windows. The space between them occupied mostly by shelves and wardrobes, and a small hearth sat in one of the corners with the singular straight wall. The room also had a smallish round table with two chairs, technically for meals, but completely overtaken by other things like clothes, books, writing tools and the such, and the other table that also had its own chair and probably was for a studious use was where Amaya had put down the food tray. That table sat right in front of a window and had a flat lidded chest where Amaya sat without care for poise. 

However Claudia still avoided her eyes and as such had not seen her sign.

The general loudly cleaned her throat calling to attention and making the girl spring to action, closing the door and stare at her straight backed and against the door, causing Amaya to frown.

She gestures in the direction of the chair near the table she is sitting at. When the girl finally sits she asks again her question.

"Oh, no… I had some hot brown morning potion! It's my own invention." She says, her former exuberance shining through just a bit… to quickly be squashed by the ever widening of her eyes and a ashen complexion. "It's not magic thought, don't worry… I do have a bit of a headache if I don't at least drink it once a day, but really safe. Harmless. I swear."

" _You had breakfast already, then?_ " Amaya notes the jittery behavior but chooses to ignore. 

She frowns at the amount of food she brought.

"Oh, no." She only says when Amaya's eyes are back on her. "Just my hot brown morning potion, wow that's a mouthful… maybe I should find a better name…" She looks around before finding an unused paper and a charcoal pencil.

Amaya looks at her scribble around a while before looking back at their cooling breakfast before she decides to interrupt the girl.

" _Later_." She signs after a soft pat to the girl's shoulder causing her to startle. " _Food first. And maybe show me that… morning brown potion thing…_ "

"It's hot brown morning potion actu-... I mean sure nevermind…" She grabs some toast and piles some eggs on top of it.

They eat silently with Claudia sometimes sneaking some looks at her all while Amaya openly observes the girl.

Claudia was thinner, not exactly in a healthy way. Her eyes slightly sunk, and cheeks a bit hollowed. Nothing too alarming, but noticeable. The odd color on her making it even more obvious. The hair was a mess, but curiously enough, her natural black was growing back again. It was almost past her chin while the rest, until it almost reached her waist, still had the white color left over by the dark magic corruption.

" _Red is not your color_." Amaya finally says, not being able to hold it back. " _At least not that much of it._ "

"I… just wanted something different." She mumbles after a little while.

" _You look good in dark colors. Maybe it's your complexion. Don't be afraid of it._ " Amaya insists. " _Everyone but yourself has forgiven you or accepted that you were used. Everyone that matters anyway._ ” She sighs pausing briefly. It was a tough situation, that of Claudia. “ _Don't be afraid of being yourself. Ezran told me you refused the position he offered you._ "

"I shouldn't go near magic ever again…" She shakes her head, eyes tightly closed.

Amaya once again has to briefly tap her shoulder to get back her attention. " _You shouldn't_ ** _use_** _dark magic_ ** _ever again_** _._ ” She partially agrees. “ _However, your knowledge is precious. And it was that knowledge that brought me here. You can still do good with it. Besides you love magic. Don't forfeit it because there is one type you're averse to…_ "

"But that's the only one I know!" Claudia desperate, hands emphatically thrown above her head.

" _It's the only one you have practice with._ ” The general bargains with the girl. “ _But look at Callum. He is just as passionate as you about magic. He was able to find a way. You have years of knowledge above him, you were just taught that there was only one way to achieve it and normalized its cost. Now you know there are other ways, it just takes more work._ "

"Callum is the key. He is special…” The girl keeps denying, hugging her own self with eyes close and a shaking head.

" _So are you._ " Amaya says before noticing she doesn’t have the girl looking at her again. 

Tired of having to keep getting her attention again and again, she gets up to stand before the girl that still rugged herself and looked away. Amaya holds her shoulders and gives a heasuring squeeze trying to make the gesture a grounding one.

“ _So are you_ ” She repeats using only one hand, while lightly touching the girl’s chin with the other.

"I can't change like that." Her lower lips tremble with her emotions. “I can’t…”

" _Sure, you can’t change what you’ve done, but yourself? You already did._ ” Amaya insists with a firm look and a sharp nod before relaxing her expressions. “ _But okay… let's start with a makeover. Hair first, it's too long and messy already, then clothes, a better color on you, of course._ " She tries as a different approach.

"I thought you came here because of my knowledge in dark magic." So confused in the change of subject she is, that her tears even dry up.

" _Yes, but that can wait until we're having a walk in the garden. Hair, then clothes._ " Amaya bulldozers on, seizing the opening she gets and pulling a sharp palm long dagger out of her boot.

Claudia eyes her startled at the sudden appearance of a sharp weapon near her. There is a brief second of tension before she relaxes a bit and stares dubiously between Amaya’s face and the knife.

" _You should know I cut my own hair._ ” She rolls her eyes when the doubt just seems to double in Claudia’s expression. “ _This is totally a choice._ ” She points at her asymmetrical cut with the dagger. “ _No matter what Gren may try to tell you. Don't worry._ "

The last bit she signs with an ever softer expression and four seconds later, Amaya counted them, Claudia was agreeing with it.

She pulls a dirty sheet from a corner of the room and lays it open on the floor before placing a chair on top of it and gesturing for Claudia to sit on it. The girl hesitantly complies. 

Still standing before the girl she quickly signs. “ _I hope you like it short!_ ”

“ **What!?** ” Claudia tries to turn, but Amaya holds her head still making her look ahead as indicating that she shouldn't move. 

After a brief second attempt at moving her head and having it locked into position once again Claudia just sighs and let go. She just hopes Amaya won’t make her bald as a long time revenge plot.

She can easily feel the General’s movements behind her. She can’t predict what she is doing and what the end result will be, but soon with the sound of blade cutting hair and said hair hitting the sheet carefully laid under them, a weight finally starts to lift from her shoulders. The long, slight tangled white tresses fall into her lap and into the ground. By the movements in her peripheral vision she was cutting it at her chin’s length and soon, to her surprise, little bits of black hair started to flutter down too.

She is careful enough to not move her head but she turns her eyes to where she knew her mirror was... but it was covered. A sheet she knows she hasn't used in months - maybe even a year! - covers it. She is unsure of the last time she saw her own reflection. Was her hair already starting to grow black again back then? She couldn’t be sure. All she had seen back then was the monstrosity she had become, the consequences of her sins that her body carried. 

They stay there, perhaps for more than an hour with just the sound of Amaya’s moving and of her hair being trimmed. Without her trying to protest again or trying to speak... not that Amaya would be able to understand from the position she was then.

But somehow it was important to her… That she waited quietly, that she had been able to enjoy the silence and appreciate the weight being taken from her.

“ _Now you take a bath._ ” Amaya signs when she finishes pointing to the large wood basin being partially hidden by a privacy screen.

It had been filled earlier that day by maids but she had yet to take a bath, the water now completely cold. Before she can say anything however Amaya is already grabbing a heating stone from her hearth with large pliers that were left beside it. 

Amaya places it in the water and soon steam starts to rise from it’s surface. The general points at her than to the basin once again, giving no space for arguments before announcing she would be the one choosing her clothes.

Claudia felt pampered and cared for, and she quickly dove behind the privacy screen to get out of her clothes and to hide how overwhelmed she felt. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> next: a walk in the garden indeed.


	16. Not done yet

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> for some reason... that title made sense to me yesterday... today? not so much, but aaaaanyway. I've forgot to post this twice already. I wanted to have passed some drawings i did while back to digital and also draw Claudia's current looks in this fic but where is motivation. even thought i've slowed down a bit on the wirting i'm still pretty invested in finishing it. i also got another idea that i've been holding back in starting to write so i don't get swamped by to many projects but man my hads have been itching. i'll get to de drawing first tho... maybe... who knows.
> 
> also, i really appreciate the comments <3 they're lovely i like to see what you guys think. i'm sorry for no always answering back i most of times forget to do so, ugh.. but i see you and really appreciate you
> 
> i hope you enjoy the read.

The clothes Amaya had chosen was an unusual choice for the girl but did look good on her. A long dark green dress with a velvety look to it, with long loose sleeves that almost covered her hands and a square and modest neckline. On her feet, the boots that reached her knee, but were mostly hidden by her skirt were made of soft deer leather and had a tan coloration. 

For a while Claudia just stood looking at herself in front of the mirror she had finally uncovered. Her left hand often rises to play with her newly cut hair.

“I don’t think I ever had my hair that short...” She says, still turned to the mirror, she then notices that Amaya probably wouldn't have understood her so she turns to her and repeats herself. “I don’t think I ever had my hair that short!”

“ _You did._ ” Amaya corrects her with a chuckle.

“I had!? When?” Eyes so wide with surprise, she seemed freer, not totally her old self just yet, but closer.

“ _You were so young… we had a bad case of lice amongst the children. Your mom was still around. Viren…_ ” Amaya pauses briefly. The man himself, an awful memory, but once... once they had all been friends and family somehow. It wasn’t for nothing that he had such sway with the castle’s people. “ _Your father had tried an elixir he came up on Soren first. It did kill the lice, but also left him completely bald. Your mom refused to let him try even the revised version of the elixir on you so they chopped most of your hair off and treated it with tobacco. You smelled of it for weeks._ ”

“I don’t remember that…” Her demeanor is a little softened, a little sad... “I don’t remember much from when mom was still here… I don’t think I can even remember her face!”

“ _She was a good woman._ ”

“She must have been… she saw dad for what he was. But… she left us… No… they gave us a choice. I was going to go with her, but I wanted to stay with Soren… and Soren has always been the one who wanted dad’s approval the most… and yet he was the one to see the truth! I stayed for soren and still I turned on him… called him a traitor… a liar… awful things, I helped the one who most made him suffer, when he was the only reason I stayed here. I made him walk again… I saved him and defied father’s orders… just to turn on him and…” Claudia curls into herself pressing and hitting her own head again and again with the heel of her hands.

“Enough.” Amaya orders out loud startling the girl out of her reprieve. “ _I can barely keep up with you, but there is nothing good going in that direction…"_

“But…”

“No.” She says out loud once again sternly. “ _You’ve been purified Claudia. In Sunfire tradition you are reborn. These are mistakes of a dead person. You are Claudia who dispelled the eternal night that had fallen over Lux Aurea, you were a dark mage purified by the light that still stands and thinks and talks. Your body and soul are pure of corruption even if you still hold to darkness in your heart and thoughts._ ”

“What… do you mean?” she sniffles against the back of her hand looking up at Amaya.

“ _You know what I mean._ ” Amaya softly holds the girl’s face to make sure she looks at her. “ _The Light burns away the darkness and corruption. If you were truly gone there would be nothing left of you, just an empty shell of what once had been a person. Janai was horrified that I even suggested for you to be purified and take the trial. It’s one of the highest punishments in Lux Aurea. To her, you forsaking your father and aiding us in battle against him and your actions in helping to clear out the corruption from the Sun Nexus were more than proof you were changed. Sure should still face trial, but the fact that you were one of the key factors in us defeating Viren…_ ” Amaya shook her head remembering such conversation. 

The sunfire elf had been horrified with her suggestion. They had argued extensively about it. Janai had reminded her of her own judgement by the light. The trial was harsh even to those the Light recognized as pure, much worse it was to those touched by Darkness, And that was just the Trial. Purification burned the person away, the number of people that survived it and kept their bearings was minimal.

The girl was slowly killing herself, anyway, Amaya had argued. The purification would cleanse her. The purification would give her a second chance. Amaya believed that there was still something worthy in her and that the Light would also recognize it. Ezran refused to punish her with something other than a prohibition of the use of dark magic. Duren had frowned upon it, but decided to leave it to Katolis. The other human kingdoms were still trying to restructure themselves after the death of their rulers to even give their opinion. And the elves… especially sunfire saw her as someone who sacrificed themselves to correct a mistake. She wasn’t forgiven, her crimes and dark magic not forgotten, but she was also a hero. It was an odd position.

The purification is the harshest of the sunfire punishments, usually given to the worst criminals, but also traditionally given as a choice to those that had done terrible things under misguidence. The Light purified and cleansed them of their sin leaving what was still worthy to have a second chance. Seldom were the times someone truly survived it. But Amaya knew, she had experienced the Light’s judgment, the Sunfire beliefs easily intertwining with her own tradition and costumes, she felt it in her gut that it was what Claudia needed. For her own image of herself and so others could also see it. The real girl… The girl that had been hurt, manipulated and misused by her own father.

They make their way to the garden in silence, some servants and other castle employees do a double take as they pass by. Maybe it's Claudia’s new looks, or maybe is the fact that she finally had left her room. Maybe both.

No one says anything however. Not to the General’s face and by the girl’s demeanor neither they do after she has her back turned to them. That was somewhat reassuring. She’d have to pay attention to the rumors mill, but that wasn’t hard when you knew what to ask and to whom.

“What is it that you came to ask me?” Claudia asks after some time when they are sitting on a bench under a tree. She used to come a lot to this place, to read when not occupied by her studies. “You said you needed my expertise…”

“ _In a way._ ” Amaya admitted. “ _You know the shadow assassins you father resurrected?_ ”

“That- that was not a resurrection exactly.” She interrupts herself, memories flooding her. She only came to know about the shadow assassins much later. At first she still tried to convince herself that sometimes you really need to believe the means will justify the end, but… “A true resurrection the person won’t lose their selves. And it can’t be much long after. But the cost… Fathe- He.” She said more resolutely. “It’s not something he would pay.” Claudia blushes, noticing she may have interrupted Amaya’s lie of thought. “Sorry, general.”

“ _You used to call me aunt once upon a time._ ” Amaya sighs shrugging off the need for the apology. “ _Magic is not really my thing, even after spending so much time with the sunfire elves. Not that all elves are practitioners, necessarily. It’s just more integrated into their routines._ ” She shakes her shoulders nonchalantly. “ _But what I meant is. The shadows Viren raised still roam the land. There is only one left now. One was killed in Duren the other by the late prince Kasef. The third I killed just a few weeks ago. It was deep into the Xadian side. It entered without detection. The other one is still MIA._ ” 

Claudia gets deep in thought, understanding in part what Amaya wanted with her knowledge. The girl felt guilty having to rely on such knowledge after all that happened, but if it was to help and undo something bad her father had done… not like she could do any magic again anyway.

“I think…” She starts uncertainly. “It’s basically a theory… I can’t be completely certain because I don't know the spell he used so…” Noticing Amaya’s unbothered and encouraging face she sighs and shoulders on. “Father he… summoned the shadows with clear order and intent. Kill the monarchs of the other human kingdoms. That’s… the order. Now, the intent was… to create interest between elves and humans making them more likely to rise to war. Without the order only intent is left. And the human kingdoms are meek to rise to arms right now. They already know they’ve been tricked and they’re still recuperating from their loss. But if the intent is to cause unrest between elves and humans and the elves know the shadows are the work of humans…”

“ _They would be the ones wanting to pick up the fight._ ” Amaya frowns. “ _Two things..._ ” She interrupts herself thinking better of it. “ _Three, actually. How would the shadows be aware of this political nonsense, can we track them and… why didn’t they just disappear after fulfilling their job?_ ”

“I don’t know how they would know or why they didn’t disappear. It wasn’t something I learned, before all that or even later when… when I was assisting him. I don’t know if he actually corrupted and condemned their souls or if they’re just echoes… or if he just took their appearance and created specters of his will… I don’t know what they are. Just that they’re heavily moon magic inspired.” She shrugged, looking meek and disappointed for being unable to help. “Also… about tracking them… I believe there are some creatures that are able to scent dark magic?”

Amaya thinks she might recall Callum’s enthusiastic retelling of how he came to be in Xadia. Something about meeting Sol Regem and almost being killed by it because he smelled of death, all due to a sole dark magic spell he had used. She was about to ask more of the girl when they’re interrupted by a startled gasp.

“Claudia! You… you’re outside!”

Soren was still holding onto his short beard. Maybe he wanted the more mature look. However, the two extra years since he first let it grow did more for it than the beard, and not by much, really. The boy was still baby faced, even in his twenties. His personality and disposition, also only added to that.

He was surprised when he saw his sister outside. 

“It’s really you! I almost didn’t recognize you, but I like what you've done with your hair!” He approached.

Amaya sensed they needed to talk. And maybe a talk outside would turn better than the ones they had in her self imposed confinement. She stayed for just long enough to ensure they would talk. When she notices the two siblings sharing a hug she decides it’s time to give them some privacy. She still had plenty to do after all.

Leaving the brother and sister duo to reacquaint themselves to each other she quickly moves on. She passes by the kitchen to steal a snack and is quickly chased out after the cook gets a hold of her intentions. Yells of “So that’s where the young king gets it from…” goes unheard by her. Playfully winking to a worried crown guard that had gone to help at the first yell of “Thief!” She shoves a tart in his hands and runs off before the cook can even think to catch up to her. 

Still with a good load in her arms and pocket she goes to her next destination. The castle’s rookery is built into a short tower that, although still stood in castle grounds, was kept away from the main building due to noise and the smell. The lower levels worked as an office and storage for the needed materials to take care of the birds and to supply a mail office. It was in the upper levels that the birds truly resided and came and went from.

With a sharp and short whistle she gets the attention of the proper young man manning the place. “ _I see Cravick is still leaving all the work to you…_ ” 

She notices his deep concentration in her hands movements and how he slowly mouthed the letters of the name she spelled as she did it. He clearly wasn’t as used to sign language, but also seemed to comprehend it at least a bit. 

She is about to repeat herself more directly when he finally says something. “Cravick? Who’s Cravick?”

“ _The Crow Lord?_ ” she deadpans. Movements clear and slow like she usually does when dealing with beginners with the language, going as far as to trying to awkwardly mouth the words.

“That’s his name!?” He seems completely surprised. “I mean… no I… he is busy. Yes, busy seeing a… a bird merchant… for… for new birds to be parched for our training… Yes. New crows. And maybe some ravens… they’re larger you know. Hawks too maybe. Pigeons…” He stumbles and mumbles through his nervous excuses. Cravick only had the position due to his birth more than due to his talent. However he had a really good eye for subordinates. “Anyway… How can I help you today, general?”

“ _Has my little friend brought something back to me recently?_ ”

These conversations had been so much easier with Gren present. But the man was on well deserved vacations. Apparently his sister and only relative still alive had just made him an uncle. He had been reluctant to ask for the free time, but Amaya herself had insisted.

“The mate still hasn't come back or I would’ve redirected the message as was requested by you, general.” He answered properly after frowning for a while and mouthing bits and pieces of what she had signed.

“ _I need to send a few messages. I’ll write them by hand. Make sure the birds are read. I’ll need my friend as well._ ” 

He doesn’t even try to protest about her writing the letters as usual. As the crow master he manages the messages both coming and going, unless it was confidential or a personal message he’d be the one writing and reading them. He just points to his chair offering her his table, and handing her enough paper for a bunch of letters, an inkwell and a featherly pen before moving to the stars leading into the rookery. 

She is in the middle of writing one of the letters when a four fingered dark skinned hand appears in her line of sigh and lightly knocks on the wood before her, carefully enough to not disturb the contents of the table. Rising her line of sight she sees herself facing slightly amused Ihlas.

“You're very hard to find, you know? For a person so remarkable…” He sneakily teases her. “... you can really make people lose track of you. So… are you writing love letters to my dear sister?” As he finishes he lazily sits on the visitor’s chair, facing the crow master’s table.

Her eyes widen at the implications. She absolutely loves Janai, but she is also really bad at keeping the other woman informed when her mind is reeling with her duty and other worries first.

“You totally forgot to write to her, didn’t you?” He arches an eyebrow, his face completely amazed. “What got you so single minded right now?”

“ _The shadows of the assassins. I got something that might help. I’ll send word to all our garrisons. Mighty ask Pyrrah’s help too._ ” She signed slowly. “ _And I want to try and reach my contact in the Evenere Kingdom. Something doesn’t smell good to me._ ”

“You almost sound like this country’s spymaster, you know?” She just owlishly blinks at him, her faces betray nothing. “Wait, seriously?”

“ _Not really?_ ” She shrugs, she is not going into that conversation any time soon. “ _Anyway get me more of that paper. I’ll write to Janai and tell her we finally reunited!_ ”

“What?” He frowns then looks to where she pointed. “Oh, paper! Right. What will you write to her? Can I also write to her?” 

“ _You can write to her, but, do you really want to know what I have to say to her?_ ” Her expression is one impossible to be mistaken, she even adds an eyebrow wiggle to deliver her point.

“Nasty! No! I’ll write to her on a separate paper thank you for the trauma, really.” He shudders. “Also… I’m supposed to stay with you right? Can you not disappear on me?”

“ _Sure kiddo._ ” She pats him in the head in a playfully condescending manner.

“I feel like I should be really offended right now…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> next: I'm thinking probably going back to janai, at least for part of the chapter. or maybe just shoulder on this visit and make her go back to lux aurea


	17. Not out of touch

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've had this one ready for a while... but for some reason kept forgetting to post it. I'm sorry. u.u  
> I want to go back and review older chapters editing and fixing anything i may have to fix. i won't necessarily do it instead of writing the next chapter, i'll try to work on both things at the same time. my head is all busy lately so i get easily distracted and when i see i never got to finish anything and most of it is half done. but i'm trying to organize myself so there is that!

It’s been a few days already. She got reports from the border troops that Amaya had spent the night at their keep before entering Katolis. Had Amaya sent word as soon as she got there… she should have received it already. Yesterday or the day before, mostly likely. Maybe something happened and that's why no word has reached her yet. 

Her leg is halfway up already when someone's call for her.

"Your Radiance!" There is a brief pause as the person takes in the scene. 

The scene being Janai decked in her old armor, sword by her side and just about to mount Dollan.

"Hm… Queen Janai…" Is said with unsure yet overly familiarity. "Where exactly is your radiance going? Your guards are going crazy trying to find you and I searched almost the whole palace…" Kazi interrupts themselves, afraid of having said too much already. Their hands, slightly trembling from time to time, are clutching two rolled up parchments.

"Are those…" She asks, one leg still up and placed in the stirrup.

"Letters… personally addressed to Your Radiance." Kazi confirmed.

Janai finally puts her legs down and moves away from the saddled up inferno-tooth and closes in on Kazi extending her hand in a silent order.

"This… is not to be talked about. Hear me, Kazi?" She says a bit menacingly accepting the rolls being handed to her.

"O-of, of course, Queen Janai! Yo-your Radiance!" They stutter out straightening their back and clenching their jaw.

"Ok… so… hum please call for the stable hand to unsaddle Dollan, please." She turns to leave trying to hide her blush and embarrassment, not even waiting for an answer from Kazi.

One letter she can see has Ihlas' ring seal so it's obviously from him. And since it got here together with the one bearing Amaya's signet… that meant they were probably together already.

She opened the one from Her little brother first as an entirely unnecessary way to prove she wasn't desperate for a word from Amaya. She was a grown woman and a Queen. She was not a desperate housewife left behind by their spouses… or a teenager in love… she… 

well she opened Ihlas' letter first because he was family and she honestly missed him.

> _ Dear sister, _
> 
> _ Don't let General Amaya trick you! She was totally forgetting to send you a letter. To have someone so absentminded to love you must be truly madness. Especially when you're such a worrywart. _
> 
> _ She gets completely lost on her job, doesn't she? Not that you have any place to complain since you're just like that too. _
> 
> _ I arrived at Katolis capital safely, nothing to worry at all. Now that I think about that. She is like you in that too… you two truly are deserving of each other, uh? _
> 
> _ I say that in the bestest of meanings, mind you. _
> 
> _ Anyway she says I'm to follow and stay with her for now. Maybe I'll learn something or another from her, given she is one of the few that can get the best out of you from time to time. What was the score as of now again? If I'm not mistaken she was ahead by three or five fights wasn't it? _

"That's only because she cheats, by flirting with me in the middle of our sparring sessions." The queen grumbles chewing her own cheek, before looking around and making sure she was alone in the corridor. 

When noticing that she is, she quickly moves to her room, ignoring the exclamation of relief from her guards that finally find her on her way to her quarters. 

When finally entering the privacy of her room she just flops on her bed, armor and all and continues to read.

> _ You see, dear sister, I'm more than read to assume your old post as the Golden knight. I know the post is still open and I'm sure you agree with me that Lux Aurea can't be without it's Golden Knight! _
> 
> _ I'm already past the age you were when you took the mantle, so do think over my suggestion. _
> 
> _ Much love for you from your dear little brother, _
> 
> _ Prince Ihlas _

Janai sighs at her brother’s parting request. It’s not that she doesn’t believe in him or that she wants to coddle him. It’s not even that for the role you need to be the best warrior ever, even she had people who could best her. Amaya being the foremost example of it. The woman could hold her ground incredibly well even against her heat being mode, she only won against Amaya once or twice without it.

No… The Golden Knight was more about authority and a role than anything else. And it took from you more than one might think. She worries he will feel fractured by it.

Looking at his letter and ornate penmanship she knows he’d be a Golden Knight of much more poise than she ever had. Her nonsense attitude and duty bound behavior got things done but hardly warmed her over to the public. She was respected and even a bit feared. He’d be loved however. A Knight right out of a story book. 

She sure did receive the title younger than he was now, but the duty and obligations that came with it were only given to her later on. Maybe she could do the same with him… after she made sure things were stable and the role would take so much from him.

After another sigh she picks up Amaya's letter. Before she can control herself she gives it a sniff. Wind, bird, ink and parchment is what she smells the most. Amaya was never one for perfumes and the likes after all. But very faintly… very very faintly she thinks she can pick up something. But it smells more like her bath oil than anything else she thinks.

> _ To the Sunfire Queen Janai _
> 
> _ My Radiance, I'm sure Ihlas will likely have snitched on me already. I was so focused on finishing what must be done, so I could hastily go back into your arms, that I might have forgotten to send you word, as you requested. _
> 
> _ The travel was nice, much faster with Saya. The flight was wonderful. When I'm back I plan to craft a saddle for her that will be the perfect fit for us. _

Janai pauses. Craft a saddle for Saya? Does she want a personalized saddle? She could buy one and give it to her, but it also may be something Amaya wants to take care of herself. She could at least help by researching for artisans and giving the general a list of the more gifted ones. Amaya was practicality first and foremost, but the woman also had a somewhat artistic view of things. So the artisans should not only be competent but also talented in making things look pretty and yet remain practical. 

She shakes her head free of her wandering thoughts and concentrates on the letter again. Amaya calligraphy was whitouth flourish, neat and easy to read. The letters and spaces between words were even and neat. No smudge or stains of still drying ink. Amaya wrote as a person that knew exactly the amount of space she would need and use. 

> _ I got some answers from Claudia as I wished. Send the appropriate authorities warnings and orders as I've seen fit. Some magical creatures will be able to easily track the dark magic specter as they seem to smell a bit. Of death I meant. Claudia assumes It's most likely in Xadia trying to force conflict between our species once again. Maybe it would be beneficial to warn the other elven tribes… Kingdoms? I wonder what term would be the more appropriate here. _
> 
> _ By the way, Ihlas might be convinced that I'm Katolis current spymaster. His face was hilarious, I can guarantee you. _
> 
> _ I got what I've needed from here. But Callum and Rayla are also here. Might bring them back with me and Ihlas. I don't believe I'll stay for much longer. The Crow Master can send me whatever answer my contact in Evenere might give, or will have to stay here for too long to wait for an answer. _
> 
> _ I miss you greatly, which is mutual I’m sure. _
> 
> _ Amaya, the love of your life. _
> 
> _ PS.: Also, before I forget, I hope you don't mind, but I stole the bottle of bath oil you left in your ‘Breach quarters’, so if you ever need to go there and spend the night I suggest you pack a new one. _

That definitely explains the faint smell, then. So she plans to come back soon. Janai suddenly feels giddy. And then very mortified by it and by her early behavior. It’s not like they haven’t been apart before and Amaya always had been a little erratic in keeping communication. But they weren’t officially an item back then, and it was easier when she was busy. However with the reconstruction in its final stages things had calmed down greatly.

She was still looking into reforming and remodeling her council and advisers. She needed people who would at least be open to human integration. Surprisingly most of the military had warmed up to them, most likely due to Amaya and the fact they fought together. Janai knew from experience how close together fighting a common enemy could bring people. The peace keeping force helped too. 

But civilians and nobles, especially the older ones… Some could spare their respect to the two Katolian royals for rescuing and bringing back the dragon prince. The girl who turned back against family to bring back their Light and willingly accepted It’s judgment also incited a cold type of wonder from her people, but that was pretty much it. Humans helped, but humans caused the problem too. And much like she knew humans did, her people also had the custom to bundle them all into only one thing. So if one human was bad their whole race must be equally rotten. 

That was exactly the type of thinking she was trying to change. A whole species shouldn’t be condemned due to the mistakes of a few or due to such old feud. And because of that she needed people who would have an open mind by her side and in the government. They didn’t need to be completely trusting of the humans, but just being against them for the sake of being against was no good either.

Janai had a few people in mind. She knew who she wanted by her side. But the changes had to be made carefully. She had the authority to do it as she pleased, but completely alienating her nobility wouldn’t do her any good. She really hated politics. And although she didn’t particularly favor war she much preferred a battlefield to a courtroom most of the time.

She and Amaya were a couple now. Truly, finally. But that didn’t mean they should or would be glued together the whole time. They both had their obligations and she should regain her focus. She knew she could be as duty bound as Amaya and she knew the woman was as dedicated to them as she was. So she was just going to breathe deeply and go back to work. She had a whole world mentality to change after all, and keep her people safe and stable in the meantime. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> next we will have Amaya back in Lux Aurea. And a few more people too.

**Author's Note:**

> You can expect at least the next two chapters relatively soon. After that is pretty much anyone's guess. Comment if you please, they're most appreciated. =>
> 
> edit: the fuck this shit changed the editing, putting a frigging space after the quotation marks with the italics in 90% of the time. It made it look hella ugly, ARGH!


End file.
